Broken Perceptions
by SKdaGamer
Summary: Aaron, a 20-year-old university student and intense video gamer, unique and hated by many people in his life, somehow ends up into a world of fantasy and magic to have a second chance at making friends. It doesn't go all too well, however, when he gets judged quickly and blamed for things he hasn't done.
1. Prologue

**Hello, everybody! This is my first fanfic. This was a little something I started in March 2017, and I honestly didn't expect it to get as long as it did, and for me to get as into it as I did. I've already written about 84 000 words of this story at the time of posting it, so yippee. I've actually left this fanfic alone for a while and started work on another** ** _Legend of Spyro_** **fanfic, which I started work on in May 2017. I've focused on that one a lot more nowadays because it'll be much longer than this one, and I prefer the other one, but I still think this one's quite alright.**

 **This fanfic will probably be a single story, but I might make some sequels of this in the future depending on how popular this one is. I have most of the story planned out and I'm actually almost finished writing it, and there are a few ways the story** ** _could_** **continue, but like most things, I'm not sure whether it** ** _should_** **.**

 **[EDIT] So it's January 14, 2019, which marks one year since this Prologue was posted. I just want to thank everybody for the support this story has gotten. It just hit 54K views a few days ago and it's got 90 favourites. These numbers are absolutely insane, especially since it's only been one year, so thank you everyone! For anyone new coming to _Broken Perceptions_ , I really do hope you guys all enjoy it, and I hope you stick around for any future projects.**

 **Anyway, that's enough of my rambling. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

Aaron ran as fast as he could, trying to shut out the shouting voices from behind him. His left leg was filled with pain as dark bruises covered the pale skin on the twenty-year-old's leg. His right leg was bruised as well, but not nearly as bad as his left. Aaron's breath was hard and the sweat rolled down his forehead and down into his mouth, causing him to taste the salty liquid running down his face. Aaron's heart raced as he tried to outrun the angry people running behind him, catching up to the tired and pained young man.

As his conscience gave out, the angry, hateful words from the angry group of four men, all a year older than him, filled his head. Screams came from people as Aaron raced down the sidewalk, almost tripping over his shoelaces, which had been untied as someone stepped on them, accidentally causing him to stumble over and his shoelaces to untie. On a normal day, Aaron would have stopped to tie up his shoelaces, but this wasn't a situation where he was almost late to get to work or his university, which was only two blocks down from his house. He was being chased by bullies. The same bullies he'd had to deal with since ninth grade. The four bullies had all gone to the university Aaron was at only five months after he had enrolled there, and it was too late to back out as no other university in the city offered the coding courses he was interested in.

Aaron had noticed that the bullies had gotten more violent over the years. Back in ninth grade, the bullies would only ever give anyone a few bruises, but by the time Aaron hit eleventh grade, the bullies had broken his right arm. They had almost broken his left leg, and he was just lucky that he managed to get out of their grasp. Aaron had no idea how he did it, but he did, and now he was running, trying to ignore the pain shooting up through the nerves in his left leg as he manoeuvred between random people walking down the sidewalk. A few orange cones came up in front of him, as he had only noticed it just before it was too late. Aaron took a swift turn to the right, only to run onto the road. Picking up the pace so he wouldn't be run over, Aaron felt his feet hit the ground even lighter as his breath went even harder as a result, his mind focusing on not getting run over.

He made it across the road, and he looked back and frowned as he saw the bullies running after him, several cars screeching to a stop as they just missed colliding with the four twenty-one-year-old boys chasing Aaron. The boys made it to the other side, chasing Aaron with everything they had. They hurled insults and rude comments at Aaron, and Aaron tried his hardest to block them out but he couldn't. He was trying too hard to outrun the angry group without getting an injury. It was too hard to do that _and_ blot out the hurtful comments, and so Aaron let the comments hit him like a hammer.

Aaron took a sharp turn to his right, running into a lush green park. He looked behind him briefly to see the angry men following him. Aaron groaned as he turned his gaze forward, letting out a scream as he dodged a woman walking her dog. Aaron wiped the sweat off his forehead as he heard the bullies laughing and shouting, as well as the dog barking savagely as the woman tried to calm it down. _That was too close._ Aaron thought, continuing to wipe sweat off his face.

Aaron made sharp turns in and out around the large park, causing people to stop in shock as the fear-induced man almost ran into them. He watched as parents blocked the ears of their children as the bullies followed Aaron, hurling curse words and horrible insults at him. He only wished he could have the freedom of having his ears covered to block out the hurtful words, but he didn't have anything that could do that.

Suddenly, Aaron let out a high-pitched yelp as his foot slid over a large lump of dog crap, causing him to slip around as he ran, the sticky, stinky substance sticking onto his shoe. Aaron let out one last shout as he lost his balance, falling over into a large lake that was in the park. The sounds of the park ceased, and so did the shocked shouts of strangers and the hurtful comments thrown at Aaron by the bullies. He stopped, hoping the bullies would lose sight of him and leave. Aaron let himself sink to the bottom of the lake for a few seconds. He figured thirty was enough, and he began to swim back to the surface. But it was then that Aaron noticed something was wrong. The water was crystal blue. It wasn't murky and dark, like the lakes in all the parks Aaron had been in. Crystal clear water was almost unnatural in a park. But still, Aaron swam up to the surface, taking in a massive breath of air as he reached it.

But it was then that Aaron knew that something was completely wrong. His surroundings were still lush and bright green, but he was now in some sort of dense rainforest. Not a park filled with hundreds, possibly thousands of people. And it was way too quiet for him. He hated overloads of noise and the rowdiness that came off the bullies, but he didn't mind the noise most of the time. It sort of made the world seem more human to him. It made it seem more gentle, and more like home. But this forest was way too quiet. He knew that often, quiet was good, such as at night when people are trying to sleep, or when trying to calm down from a hard experience, or when trying to show suspense in a movie, video game or audio book even, but the silence was too overwhelming for Aaron.

Aaron pulled himself out of the lake, hauling his sore, painful bulk over the faded bricks that surrounded the lake. _Hold on a minute… lake… bricks?_ Aaron thought, scrunching up his face as he realised that something wasn't adding up. _Is this some sort of well or something?_

Still confused, Aaron stood up, wiping his dung-padded shoes in the grass, wiping of the sticky brown substance into the ground. He stopped and tied up his shoelaces, figuring that now he was in a forest, which he had no idea how he got into, that he could trip over rocks or stumps or… anything if his shoelaces got caught. He straightened his body after tying up his shoelaces, looking around and wondering where to go. He rolled his shoulders, feeling his bag jolting around on his back.

And that's when Aaron's eyes widened. He got to the ground, whipped off his bag and dug through it, pulling out books and small sheets of paper, followed by his phone and a Nintendo 3DS (Aaron was a pretty big gamer). He turned on his phone, surprised at the fact that it worked perfectly, despite his bag being submerged in water. Then he opened his Nintendo 3DS and turned it on, breathing a sigh of relief as the screens turned on, revealing the game card that he had inside, which was an old DS game: _The_ _Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon_. He was a huge fan of Spyro since it came out on the original PlayStation, and he had gotten both the PlayStation 2 editions as well as the DS editions of _The_ _Legend of Spyro_ trilogy, so he could enjoy great, detailed gameplay on the PS2 at home, while enjoying the game on the DS while the move. He had been replaying the trilogy recently, and he was loving it as much as he had at the age of thirteen. He was glad that both his phone and 3DS worked, and, returning his breathing to normal, turned off his 3DS, closed it, put it back in the case it came with, and put it back in his bag, as well as his phone.

Whirling his bag around his shoulder, Aaron stood up, walking forward. He looked around, staring at the large trees that towered high above him, much taller than the ones he was used to seeing. And Aaron had seen _very_ tall trees no more than ten months ago, but these trees gave a new meaning to the word 'tall'. These trees dwarfed the 'tall trees' that he had seen back then. As he walked, he listened closely for any bird or insect calls, but heard nothing except his own footsteps and the wind whooshing around softly.

Aaron walked for who knows how long. His phone had run out of battery ages ago, and it was a pain to keep taking out his 3DS to check the time, so Aaron had given up on that. After what felt like three hours of walking, he came to an end in the rainforest as he saw lush green grass that ran along flat ground, with no endless maze of trees to be seen in sight. Aaron let out a weary, but triumphant groan as he fell to the ground, his bruised left leg giving way. He ran his hand through his dark, sweaty hair, and smiled. _I'm finally out of that maze of trees!_ Aaron thought, too tired to speak out loud to himself. _When I regain my strength, I need to figure out where I am._

Aaron figured it was the perfect time for a nap as he saw the sun setting in the horizon, oblivious to the large stone structures off in the distance. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, lying in the grass. _Tomorrow…_ he told himself. _Tomorrow I'll find out where the heck I am. I need to get back home._

And with that, Aaron's eyes clamped shut, and he lost all consciousness as he fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 1: Dragons!

**As you might be able to tell by the name of the chapter, Aaron gets to see his first dragons!**

 **Now, in the way I'm updating this story, since I've got so many chapters already written (like almost 40), I'm actually going to wait until I finish writing a chapter before I upload an earlier one. I could just upload it all in one go, but that'd be annoying, and it's better for me because I'm way ahead of where I want to be, and if I end up having severe writer's block or am really busy and end up leaving the story alone for a while, I'll upload a chapter. So, here's Chapter 1!**

* * *

Aaron's eyes snapped open. The cold rain pelted on him like a rock. He grabbed his bag, slung it over his back and got to his feet. He darted out from the forest and out into the open, which, first of all, was not a very good idea. He ran half way out into the plains, then realised he didn't know where to go. There was no shelter in sight (he was standing with his back facing the stone structures in the distance). Shivering, Aaron ran forward, hoping he could find something.

Aaron ran for a mere ten minutes until he came across a cave descending into the ground. He knew that generally, that was not a good sign, but he took his chances so he could get out of the rain. Climbing down into the cave, Aaron sighed as the cold rain stopped falling onto his back. He saw a nice, flat plane of rock below him and crawled down towards it, hearing the sound of the thundering rain soften as he went further down into the cave.

He set his feet on the hard, solid, flat rock and sighed, sitting down and smiling. He would have loved to set up a fire to keep himself warm, but unfortunately, he had no matches, and if he wanted wood he'd have to go back outside. But the thundering downpour of rain meant that all the wood was wet. And so, Aaron sat there, shivering, wet and cold.

Aaron would have been sitting alone for about five minutes until he heard a low growl, causing him to jump. Aaron's breath shuddered, and he stood up, grabbing his bag and stepping backwards away from the source of the growling deep in the cave. He stammered as a soft orange glow shone from the darkness of the cave, which could later be extinguished as fire. A large, reptilian head, about the size of Aaron, rose out of the darkness, the fire burning out from its nostrils. The body of the reptile stepped out of the darkness, and Aaron realised it was a dragon. He let out a shout, stumbling backwards for a moment before regaining his footing as he climbed up out of the cave. He was knocked to the ground by a sharp force through the air as the dragon leapt over him, flying off through the rain into the distance. Aaron calmed his breathing as he looked out at where the dragon had flown, and gasped. There was a large hunk of stone structures in the distance. It looked almost like a city. And Aaron recognised it. Somehow. He couldn't figure out the name of the city, but he knew it had something to do with dragons. He watched as the orange dragon disappeared inside the walls of the large city. Then a thought entered his head. _But wait… dragons don't exist._ Aaron thought, before scrunching up his face in confusion. _But… then again… I just… saw a dragon._

Aaron sat down, whipping off his bag and taking out his 3DS, pulling the black DS game card out of it and staring at Spyro's name which was printed in large, purple, scaly letters on the front of the card. Suddenly, a thought jumped into his head and he stood up, whirling around to look at the large city. Aaron gasped, holding the game card up and staring at Spyro's name with shock. _Warfang. That's Warfang._ Aaron thought. _It's too similar to the city in_ Dawn of the Dragon _so it has to be Warfang._

 _But how is this possible? How am I in the Dragon Realms then?_ Aaron said to himself, scratching the back of his head. _I fell in the lake, and then, somehow, I ended up here. I didn't think portals existed. Even more so, the Dragon Realms were made up. They only existed in_ The Legend of Spyro _video games. I can't be in the Dragon Realms._

But another thought jumped into Aaron's head. One that made him jump up and down on the spot with joy. _But if I'm in the Dragon Realms, then…_ Aaron thought, the thought too abstract and too unlikely for him to even comprehend the chances of it happening. _Then I could meet Spyro and Cynder in the flesh!_

A small squeal forced itself out of Aaron's mouth and, partly embarrassed, even though there was most definitely no one there to hear him, he immediately stopped bouncing and made a straight face, the excitement falling deeper into his soul as he looked around, before sighing and sitting back down, putting the DS game card back into his Nintendo 3DS, which he then put into his bag and zipped it shut.

Aaron's stomach suddenly began to rumble, and he let out a groan as he realised he had no idea what he was going to find to eat in the Dragon Realms. And the rain outside still fell quite hard, and Aaron knew he wasn't going to get out there to get any food. But it was then that he realised that for one, he hadn't eaten at all since he got to the Dragon Realms, or, even worse, since breakfast. He never made it to university because the bullies chased him off course. The second thing he realised was that his entire lunch was still in his bag. Reopening the bag hastily, he whipped out his lunchbox and ripped it open, sighing at the sight of all the food he had packed. Aaron liked to eat, so he always stuffed his lunchbox full with food, and then go get extra from the canteen at the university. Being as unhealthy as he was, however, his lunchbox was filled with packets of chips and lollies. Aaron groaned as he realised he forgot to pack some fruit in, as he always packed two pieces of fruit, whether it be apples, bananas, slices of watermelon, or whatever, to keep a little bit of healthy food in his lunchbox. Sighing, he grabbed a packet of Cheese Balls and ripped it open, stuffing his mouth with the powdery balls.

After he had finished the packet of Cheese Balls, followed by a packet of Oreos, Aaron put his lunchbox in his bag and zipped it up, sighing, knowing he had food in his stomach. He heard the rain fading away, and he smiled, hearing the heavy downpour subsiding, leaving silence in the open outside of the cave, the only sound being the soft pitter patter of the drops of water that collected on the lip of the cave's opening.

Suddenly, there was a loud, reverberating sound. A sound sort of like wings flapping. Aaron turned around to see the orange dragon, which he figured was a fire dragon given the fire that had burned from its nostrils earlier, and by the colour of the scales, accompanied by a green Earth dragon, descending and ready to land in front of the cave. Aaron held his shout of fear in his throat and got up, grabbing his bag and scrambling into the darkness, hiding behind a rock, his throat stinging as he held his fearful shout trapped inside his throat, not letting it leave his mouth.

"So, are you _sure_ you saw an ape in here?" a deep gravelly voice asked.

 _The earth dragon._ Aaron thought. _It sounds a bit like Terrador._

Aaron shivered knowing that he could be in the presence of the earth guardian himself. Even worse if the two dragons believed he was an ape.

"I'm _very_ sure, Terrador." a soft, shaky, feminine voice replied.

 _So it_ is _Terrador. And the fire one is a female._ Aaron thought, shuddering again.

"Well I don't see anything here, Pyra." Terrador said. "There's nothing here but your cave."

"There _was_ one here! I saw it with my own eyes!" the fire dragoness, her name Pyra by the sounds of it, responded sharply. "It was in here for five minutes! It was after then I had to get out to tell you, but the only way I could get out was by startling it with my fire display."

"Okay, Pyra. But it's most likely gone by now. There's no one here." Terrador repeated.

"No! It stayed here!" Pyra shouted, and the sound of the angry, but scared dragoness running her paw along the ground.

There was a rustling sound and Aaron winced, knowing what the item was that she had just picked up. Aaron had forgotten to clean up his rubbish, and his packet of Cheese Balls and Oreos were lying on the ground, and Pyra had found them.

"'Cheese Balls'? 'Oreos'?" Pyra read, a slight snarl in her voice as she read the names on the packets of food. "What ape junk is this?!"

"I've never seen anything like it. It's very curious." Terrador stated, his gravelly voice devoid of any sign of fear, anger, or any other emotion.

"Should we tell Spyro and Cynder? After all, they know the best out of all of us how to deal with apes." Pyra suggested. "Especially Cynder. She _led_ the apes. _She_ of all dragons would know what to do."

Aaron winced. _No. Don't tell Spyro and Cynder please! If you tell them that I'm an ape… I… I can't have my childhood heroes thinking I'm their hated enemy!_ Aaron thought, shuddering at the horrible thought.

"Yes that's true, but what seems off is that it's been two years since Malefor was defeated for good. The apes _can't_ have come back. Not without a leader at least. It's almost unfathomable." Terrador explained, trying to soothe Pyra down and to convince her that there was no ape, which in fact was true, as Aaron was a human.

"I know, but the apes developed quite a fair bit over the course of three years when Spyro and Cynder were trapped in the Time Crystal inside the Well of Souls." Pyra added. "They could have developed over these two years as well."

"Yeah, but they turned into _shadow apes_. Malefor _cursed_ them, remember?" Terrador said. "Who knows if they were even reverted back to their normal forms?"

"True." Pyra said, loosening her grip on the packets, letting them fall back to the ground with a rustle.

 _Just go. Leave already._ Aaron thought desperately, tensing.

"I'm still going to be careful. I don't know what's going on, but it was a bipedal figure that did resemble the apes." Pyra said.

"Alright, Pyra. Keep safe." Terrador replied.

There was the sound of flapping wings, indicating that the mighty earth guardian had left, leaving Aaron alone in the cave with Pyra. As she stepped forward, her claws clacked on the hard rock, making Aaron's blood freeze as the sound got closer and closer. Aaron closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, shaking his head as the slow clacking got closer. The sound of a sharp intake of air. Aaron froze and slowly opened his eyes. Pyra was standing in front of him, looking down, frozen at the sight of the human. Aaron and Pyra's eyes locked, and they stood, frozen in place as they stared each other down. Aaron saw fear in Pyra's eyes, and he felt bad instantly. However, Pyra didn't see her fear reflected in the human's eyes. All she saw was hatred, anger and bloodlust, the same emotions that the apes had during the war when Malefor was still around.

While they stared, Aaron took a moment to study the features on Pyra so he could tell her apart if he ever ran into her again, which he surely hoped he wouldn't. She was a vibrant blood-orange colour, with pale yellow horns and underbelly, with a shiny gold tailblade that was shaped like a sword, the beginning of the blade beginning just before the end of the tail, much like Ignitus'. Her eyes were a soft, calm ruby colour, but the calmness that the colour portrayed was not evident in the fearful eyes at all. Pyra's horns were slanted backwards, but curved around so they pointed up. She also had large wings, the outside of the wings the same blood-orange colour as her body, turning into a thick ruby colour much like her eyes as the colour ran towards the tips of her 'fingers'. The wing membrane was shiny golden, much like her tailblade.

Aaron was afraid to move, wondering what Pyra would do if he moved or made a sound. He wondered if she would run and scream and go find Terrador again and make sure he dealt with him, as Pyra now knew where Aaron was, or if Pyra attack him on her own, threatening to burn his skin off. Aaron didn't want to know. He was lucky his phone had run flat the day before, as a vibration or alarm could startle Pyra, causing her to freak out. But what could Aaron do? They had been staring for five minutes, each of their breaths heavy. He had to leave, and leave quickly, but he couldn't or Pyra would get frightened and do something. And so, Aaron did the dumbest thing he'd ever done.

"Okay, if you'd just stay calm, I'll just be on my…"

Aaron was interrupted by a loud, frightened scream as Pyra opened her jaws, the deafening roar hammering against Aaron's ears. The human jolted backwards, falling flat on his back as he clasped his hands over his ears, yelling in pain. Pyra freaked out even more as she screamed harder, rearing, lifting the front half of her body in the air, her arms flailing about wildly. Aaron scrambled to his feet and ran, shouting with fear as Pyra continued screaming, releasing a scorching stream of fire at Aaron. Aaron dived to the ground, landing in the soft, wet grass outside of the cave. He didn't look back at Pyra once as he leapt back to his feet, adjusting his bag so it lay comfortable on his back, and sprinted off away from Pyra's cave. Aaron suddenly realised that running in that particular direction wasn't the smartest thing to do. He heard Pyra release another scream, followed by flapping wings as he realised Pyra was coming up behind him. He looked up, letting out a frightened shout as he saw Warfang in the distance, and he suddenly knew why Pyra was freaking out even harder. Everything quickly became a whole lot worse when he saw Terrador's silhouette turning around in the sky above Warfang. Terrador, who hadn't gotten the chance to fly back into the walls of Warfang, saw Pyra flying towards the 'ape', before seeing the small figure himself and flying back in that direction. Aaron knew exactly that that had happened, and he made a sharp turn to the right, bolting away, breathing heavily. "I would much rather prefer four bullies than two dragons!" Aaron cried, not worrying about being quiet; he had already been seen by Pyra, and worst of all, Terrador.

Aaron's stomach churned. He hadn't eaten fully in a day, and the only energy he had was from the two junky packets of food that he had consumed a few minutes earlier. He groaned inwardly, knowing he should have packed some fruit, or something with a bit more energy, but those thoughts were pushed aside instantly as he heard the heavy flapping of wings get louder, and, looking behind him, saw Pyra chasing after him, with Terrador catching up to the smaller fire dragoness. Aaron gasped as he realised how big Terrador was, but he blocked the thought out as he realised his life depended on getting out of this mess. He whipped his head forward and saw the forest he had resurfaced in the day before, picking up the pace and running towards the trees. He heard Terrador and Pyra conversing behind him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did he want to hear what they were saying. He was focusing on one thing, and that was getting out alive.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude! I was just trying to get out of the rain!" Aaron cried, hoping that the dragons would hear him, believe his words, and go away. "I don't even know how I got here in the first place!"

"SHUT UP, APE!" Pyra screamed.

Aaron groaned, realising that his plan was a complete failure ten seconds after putting it into action. He heard a deep, reverberating flap as Terrador flew over him and landed in front of him, blocking his path. Aaron gave out a shout as he stumbled backwards, attempting to make another sharp right turn, but his vision went black as a clubbed tail slammed him in the face.


	3. Chapter 2: Prisoner

**Just finished writing a later chapter of the story, so it's time to edit and upload this chapter. There'll be a lot more to do with the dragons now, and Aaron's in a bit of trouble.**

 **In response to 'Guest', I do know that the "human trapped in TV land" scenario is overused, but I plan on doing this differently. Usually what happens is the human gets powers of their own, or turns into a dragon. Aaron gains nothing special in this story. He's just a normal, generic human, trapped in the Dragon Realms. As for the action sequences where Aaron is involved, I've got something planned that I don't think has been done before.**

* * *

Aaron woke up, pain filling his body as he clutched his head. He immediately brought his hand back as he saw blood smeared on it. Slowly bringing his hand to his head again, he felt the red liquid seeping slowly down his left cheek from his forehead. He remembered with a shock that Terrador's clubbed tail had slammed into his head, and it would have grazed his head, hard. He let out a sigh of relief as he reached for his back and felt his bag still attached to it. It was then that he realised where he was. He was in a dark, stone cell, with iron bars in front of him. On the other end of the solid iron, there was a large stone corridor, filled with entrances to dull, stone rooms just like his, all blocked with iron bars. Aaron noticed they were all empty, and he suddenly remembered what exactly he was in. _A prison cell._ he thought. _They put me in a prison cell. That means I'm in Warfang._

Normally, Aaron would have been delighted to be in the Dragon City. Even more so to meet the Guardians, followed by Cynder, and best of all, Spyro, the purple dragon of legend. But the events that had just happened made him feel less intrigued by the fact that he was in Warfang. It almost made him want to get out and go back to the horrible wilderness, or, even better, his home. That's all Aaron wanted to be. He had not had a great start in the world he loved so much as a teenager, and he almost hated the thought of meeting the heroes of his childhood. Spyro had always been an iconic figure to Aaron, ever since the _Classic Spyro_ series, but the _Legend_ series made Spyro even better, and more relatable as a human, as he had a relatable backstory. And with the introduction of Cynder, it made the story even better. The guardians were amazing, and Aaron loved coming back to see the guardians at the end of a level in _A New Beginning_ to learn a new element. Pity that Ignitus had to die. But all that… everything Aaron knew about _The Legend of Spyro_ … it was real. He didn't know how a made-up fantasy world could be real, but it was. When he realised he was in the Dragon Realms, he felt almost delighted to ask any dragon he came across about Spyro and Cynder, and about the war, and the guardians, and… about everything. Now he did not feel so willing to do that. He was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Wanting to get out and never see another dragon again. Worse of all, he wasn't even safe and free in the forest, or in a wide-open space. No, he was in a _prison cell_ of all places.

There was the clacking of claws on stone, and Aaron's muscles went rigid at the sound. He gazed up at the iron-clad ice dragon. _He's a jailor. A guard._ Aaron thought. _I do not want to get on his bad side. Better do as he tells me._

In a cold, icy voice, the ice dragon said, "Come. The Guardians want to see you, young furless ape."

The ice dragon unlocked the prison cell, opening the door, allowing Aaron to look at the ice dragon in his full glory with awe and fear. Aaron scrambled to his feet, running towards the ice dragon fearfully as the Ice dragon turned and walked off. Aaron didn't need to be told to follow the large ice dragon, so he did.

They came to a small stone room, where two earth dragons, wearing similar armour to the ice dragon, sat, waiting for the human. "Alright, cuff him." the Ice dragon said.

"Alright, General Icebreath." one of the earth dragons said, grabbing Aaron and ordering him to put his hands behind his back.

Aaron willingly did so, and winced as large metal cuffs were clamped shut around his wrists. Now he _really_ felt weak and defenceless. Aaron looked up at General Icebreath as he was called, awaiting his next instruction.

"That was so you don't get into any trouble, young furless ape." General Icebreath spat. "Now come. The guardians are waiting."

"I'll do whatever you say." Aaron said truthfully.

"Did I ask you to talk, ape?!" General Icebreath roared, extending his wings dramatically and staring at Aaron with cold, icy blue eyes.

"N-n-no, G-Gen-n-neral…" Aaron stammered.

"So shut your damned yap until the guardians ask you to speak!" General Icebreath retorted, turning around and folding his wings up. "Now come with me if you don't want your bloody face frozen off!"

Aaron knew he wasn't using the word 'bloody' as a curse word. Although it was torturous. The reminder of how much his face stung from the blow by Terrador's clubbed tail came like a bullet, making the pain return with a lot more force than it did when he woke up, and he felt the red liquid dripping slowly down his face.

The human turned and followed General Icebreath out of the small room and out into the open. Aaron cringed as he saw the mix of angry and fearful expressions shoot at his direction. A few rude comments were thrown at Aaron as well, but none so savage compared to the bullies and cruel people back on Earth. The insults and rude comments back at home were generally layered with many curses, making them much more hurtful than the ones he received from the dragons. But the insults he received from the dragons had more to them than the more setback tone. They _felt_ worse. Being dragons, they had the capability to use their voice in different ways to humans, and the rude remarks came out more savage than anything Aaron had ever experienced. The hints of growls and the frightening exposure of large fangs made it an utterly frightful experience. Sometimes the dragons wouldn't say anything. They would just growl. That made it even worse. It made them seem more primitive and predatory, like the ones in _How to Train Your Dragon_. They couldn't speak and only used growls and roars to communicate, and when the first movie came out, it was a little nerve-racking seeing those glorious reptiles growl deeply. However, in _How to Train Your Dragon_ , nobody knows what the dragons are saying to each other. It was no different with the dragons in the Dragon Realms when they did it, but being mistaken for an ape, Aaron got the message quite clear. But just the fact that they were _dragons_ was enough on its own. From the _Dragon Realms_ , a place that Aaron had known since he first played _Spyro the Dragon_ when he was a child. It made it even more hurtful for Aaron, knowing that this was a place that he had known and loved since the very first _Spyro_ game, which had sparked his enthusiasm and enjoyment for dragons, and all the dragons in it were just so… hurtful and disowning to him. He hated to see how Spyro would react. The purple dragon that he had known and loved for so many years, the purple dragon that would stop at nothing to do what was right, and the purple dragon that would try his best to be as kind and accepting to everyone, as proven with his acceptance of Cynder all the way back in _A New Beginning_. He hoped that Spyro was accepting of him. He didn't care if Cynder wasn't accepting of him, nor the guardians. He just wanted _Spyro_ , his _childhood hero_ , his _'friend'_ , as little five-year-old Aaron would say, to accept him.

After ten horrible minutes of walking, receiving growls, hateful comments and looks, as well as bared fangs, General Icebreath spoke again. "We're here at the Warfang Temple. Now, inside, _ape_." General Icebreath spat, saying the word 'ape' which such bitterness it made Aaron's blood run cold.

The colossal door opened, and General Icebreath pushed Aaron, almost causing him to fall face-first into the smooth marble floor that coated the ground of the Warfang Temple. Aaron walked through the massive foyer, looking around at the impressive marble pillars and the drawings etched in the solid walls, with ancient Draconic writing accompanying the drawings. Aaron couldn't read the Draconic script, but with the images depicting ancestors and purple dragons, he assumed that the markings were telling legends and myths in the Dragon Realms. Corridors split off from the foyer, going off in every direction. The colossal inside of the Warfang Temple was silent, the only sounds resonating through it was Aaron's shoes clopping on the ground hard, as well as the overwhelming sound of General Icebreath's claws clacking ominously on the marble floor. There were stone statues inside the foyer. Four of them. Aaron realised that they were statues of the guardians: Terrador, Volteer, Cyril, and last of all, Ignitus, who had died trying to get Spyro and Cynder through the Belt of Fire on their way to confront Malefor. As Aaron continued walking down the foyer towards the doors, he noticed that Spyro and Cynder also had statues in the room. He could tell that the statues were made several months after _Dawn of the Dragon_ ended. Spyro was much older and majestic, his loyal form standing proud, a warm smile etched onto his face. While it was only a stone statue, Aaron felt like he was in the presence of Spyro, but he figured he would prefer the presence of the statue. He was too scared to confront Spyro in the flesh. The dragons were extremely nerve-racking. Even Terrador scared him. But the dragon, or dragoness to be more specific, that he was most scared of being in the same room with, was Cynder. He looked over to Cynder's statue, a stern expression on her face. A smile threatened to tug at her lips, but her hard expression made Aaron shiver. Cynder's front half of her torso was lowered to the ground, her forelegs spread out in front of her in a battle stance.

"Stop gawking and walk!" General Icebreath scowled, digging the rounded edge of his claw into Aaron's back, causing him to snap back into reality as he turned his gaze off the majestic statues of the guardians and the Heroes of the Dragon Realms, staring straight ahead at the large pair of doors which were closed, each door etched with the symbols of each element, the natural elements of fire, electricity, earth and ice on the left door, and the dark elements of poison, fear, wind and shadow on the right.

 _I was sure water existed._ Aaron thought, staring at the symbols of the elements on the doors. _Maybe wind is only on there because Cynder carries the element of wind. The wind and water dragons are most likely extinct, according to many speculations._

The doors opened, creaking with an eerie feel to them. It made Aaron feel like he was walking into a haunted mansion with the emptiness of the large temple, as well as the odd etchings on the walls and the statues of the guardians, Spyro and Cynder. Aaron looked up at General Icebreath, who bowed his head honourably as the guardians came into view, a slight smile of respect tugging at his jaws. General Icebreath straightened his neck, looking down at Aaron as the smile disappeared from his lips. Aaron teared his gaze away from General Icebreath and frowned, looking down at the ground as he felt the presence of an extra five dragons envelop him. _Five dragons. I don't know how I know there's five when I'm not looking at them, but I do._ Aaron thought. _But if there's five… then that means Spyro and Cynder are here._

Aaron opened his eyes and looked slightly up, the paws of each dragon coming into his view. The green paws of Terrador, whom he had already met prior thanks to his accidental stumble upon Pyra, the bright yellow paws of Volteer, the 'walking, talking dictionary' as he was called by many fans, as he would blabber on and use big words unintentionally but unnecessarily, and the cold, cyan paws of Cyril, which looked similar to General Icebreath's, however the claws on Cyril's paws were a crystal white, while General Icebreath's claws were a deep indigo colour. Beside the guardians, he saw faint glimpses of the purple dragon himself, as well as his darker coloured companion. While he had many questions welling up in his throat to blab out to the dragons, he knew he would get the bad end of it from General Icebreath, and the guardians, Cyril especially, wouldn't be too happy with him. In Cyril's words, disgusted.

"So there _is_ an ape around." the rich, feminine voice of Cynder scowled, a low growl coming from her throat.


	4. Chapter 3: Interrogation

**For some really odd reason, on the odd occasion I've been getting logged out of my FFnet account and I can't log back in, and my profile and this story temporarily disappear. I'm not sure what's going on, but I hope it's just server problems or something.**

 **But anyway, I've finished another chapter, and we get to see Spyro and Cynder in this chapter, so yippee!**

* * *

Aaron winced as Cynder spoke with overwhelming hate in her voice. He hadn't heard her speak like that since she was the Terror of the Skies in _A New Beginning_. It was very unsettling to the human, hearing one of his childhood heroes speak with such extreme bitterness and hate in her voice.

"Have I ever lied to you, Cynder?" Terrador asked sincerely, his rough, deep voice echoing throughout the large marble halls of the meeting room.

There was a clash as the doors slammed shut, making Aaron jump. He looked up at Cynder who scoffed, not taking her emerald eyes off him. Aaron winced, his body flowing with discomfort as the five pairs of dragon eyes scrutinised him threateningly. He felt uncomfortable being in the same room as his heroes, which was strange as almost everyone would have loved the chance to meet Spyro in the flesh, but the situation that Aaron was in completely ruined the experience for him. He groaned inwardly as the cold metal cuffs rubbed uncomfortably against the skin on Aaron's wrists.

"Thank you General Icebreath for bringing the ape along as we ask him a few questions. Would you be able to stay to escort the ape back to his prison cell after the interrogation or do you have other matters to attend to?" Terrador asked.

"No, Terrador. I'm all good today." General Icebreath said, glaring menacingly at Aaron and walking off to join the other five dragons' semi-circle, sitting down and clearing his throat. "Now, remember ape, only speak when you are told to. No interruptions, no unnecessary talking, and most of all, no mocking or rebuttals."

Aaron wanted to roll his eyes and mouth angrily at General Icebreath, but given the circumstances, as well as the fact that General Icebreath had clearly said not to mock, Aaron quickly thought against it. He didn't know what the consequences were, nor did he _want_ to know.

"Okay, thank you everyone for attending." Terrador boomed, his deep voice rumbling throughout the large room, the deep tones hitting Aaron's ears like a drum, reverberating in his ears like the sub-bass of a build-up in an electronic song. "The interrogation will now begin. All dragons are free to ask any questions, and all apes are happily encouraged to keep their mouths shut until asked a question, and to shut their yaps when told to."

Aaron almost rolled his eyes, but kept the action in his brain. _Really?_ Happily encouraged _?! Yeah, right. More like_ forced _to keep my mouth shut._ Aaron thought, wanting to scoff out loud. _And what is with this_ all apes _thing? Apparently,_ I'm _the only 'ape' in the room._

"Alright, first question." Volteer said, piping up and causing Cyril to bring a paw to his forehead. "Are there any more apes?"

"To be honest…" Aaron stuttered. "I-I-I don't know. I don't even know how I got here."

"What in the ancestors' names is that supposed to mean?" Cyril scoffed.

"Well, the last thing I remember was falling into a lake in the park while being chased by bullies, and then I resurfaced in the forest just out there." Aaron explained.

"Bullies… really?" Volteer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Lies!" Cynder shouted. "I've worked with apes long enough to know that they lie so they can get away from punishment!"

"But I'm not lying! It's true!" Aaron pleaded. "I don't know how the hell I got here!"

"Shut your face, young ape or I'll freeze it shut for you!" General Icebreath scolded, causing Aaron to stop talking and lower his gaze to the ground.

"So you're telling us that you don't know what happened to the apes after the war, and you don't know how you got here?" Terrador asked, with a large amount of doubt in his voice.

"Yes." Aaron confirmed.

"Can you explain a little bit more on that?" Terrador asked.

"Well… you see, I come from another world. Called Earth. With humans and buildings and technology. Pretty advanced if I do say so myself." Aaron explained, straightening his posture to get himself comfortable as the heavy cuffs on his wrists began to weigh him down.

"World travel? How is that possible?" Volteer questioned. "Portals don't exist."

"I thought the same as well." Aaron said. "Until now when I, somehow, get brought here. I thought that…"

Aaron stopped himself. He was about to say that he originally thought that the Dragon Realms only existed in the mind of a human and on the screen of a television, but quickly thought against it.

"You thought that what?" Spyro asked.

Aaron's stomach did flips hearing Spyro's voice in reality for the first time. His voice was significantly deeper, the adolescent dragon had obviously hit puberty, and hit it hard. Aaron's nervousness bubbled up inside him, and he thought he was going to say something wrong all of a sudden. He felt he wasn't going to be able to hold his mouth shut.

But Aaron swallowed, and regained his courage. "Nothing. I forgot what I was going to say." Aaron lied.

"Apes." Cynder scoffed, rolling her emerald-green eyes.

"And what of this… technology… that you speak of?" Terrador asked, not questioning Aaron out of his own interest.

"It's very advanced, and I would show you, if my phone wasn't flat and my hands weren't tied up." Aaron said dryly.

General Icebreath stood up and walked towards Aaron, lifting his paws and grabbing a hold of the cuffs, yanking them open as they fell with a clatter to the ground. "You're leaving with them on again, but by all means, show us your… 'technology', ape." General Icebreath said bitterly, staying in his spot as he loomed over Aaron.

"General Icebreath is right." Spyro said, speaking again. "Apes were always dumb creatures, no matter how skilled they were in combat. How could they have _advanced_ technology?"

"Spyro proves a respectable point there." Volteer said. "If an ape could pull off something more innovative than what we have, then that _would_ be mind-breaking, unfathomable, un…"

"Yeah, yeah, Volteer. That's enough of your little dictionary talk." Cyril interrupted, speaking dryly. "No one likes a chatterbox. _Especially_ when it's you."

Volteer spluttered, and it almost made Aaron laugh. He would have burst out laughing if not for the gigantic ice dragon looming over him as he kneeled to the ground and taking off his bag, opening it and grabbing out his phone. "Well… this is a phone." Aaron said, standing up and holding the small Apple device high in the air.

"And what does it do?" Cyril asked coldly.

"I… I would show you, but its battery is flat." Aaron explained, lowering his hand holding his phone.

"What's a battery?" Volteer whispered in Cyril's ear.

"Okay, would you just shut up now, Volteer?! Obviously what this ape is saying doesn't make any sense to us right now so stop asking me, thinking I of all people would know what in the ancestors' names he's talking about!" Cyril roared at Volteer, causing the electric guardian to jump back with surprise.

"Cyril, calm your anger in front of the ape. You know they don't take too well to signs of anger and that it causes them to attack." Terrador said slowly, but calmly.

"I'm all good with it. Keep yelling if you want, Cyril. I need to try and figure out how I'm going to turn this on." Aaron muttered, turning his phone around in his hands.

Cyril stared at Aaron, eyes widened. "Did… did he really just say that?" Cyril stammered.

"That's definitely not something an ape would say." Spyro added.

"This is truly remarkable, unforeseeable, diabolical even!" Volteer exclaimed. "For an ape to show this much passiveness and kindness to us is a tad bit farfetched!"

"And that's definitely something Volteer would say." Cyril groaned. "So shut up, you big yellow ball of scales or I'll turn you blue."

"How? It's almost impossible to change a dragon's scale colour, so why do you think you'll succeed in doing such a challenging and exhausting task?" Volteer asked.

Cyril rolled his eyes and breathed cold air all over Volteer's snout as a soft coat of ice settled on the yellow dragon's face, causing him to shiver, his teeth chattering. "Alright, C-C-Cyril." Volteer shivered. "Point… made. Sp-Sp-Spyro, a l-little help-p-p here?"

Spyro let out a groan and released a small fireball at Volteer's snout. A small pop sounded as the fireball exploded, taking the ice with it, leaving water covering Volteer's once frozen face. "Thanks, Spyro. That was ultimately unfriendly, Cyril." Volteer scowled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, dictionary breath." Cyril retorted.

"Alright, I've got an idea." Aaron interrupted, standing up. "But I need you guys to trust me a little bit."

"Trust _you_?! Who in their right minds would trust an _ape_?!" Cyril exclaimed.

"No one." Cynder answered bitterly, glaring threateningly at Aaron.

"I just need a soft volt of electricity through this end of the phone." Aaron said, pointing to the place where the charger was inserted. "Spyro? Volteer?"

Spyro was quick to shake his head, and Volteer seemed unsure. The large yellow dragon stammered for a couple seconds, unable to make the choice of saying yes or no. "Oh, come on Volteer! You can't be seriously thinking of doing what an _ape_ asks you to!" Cyril scoffed. "And I don't care whether this 'advanced technology' thing seems interesting! It could be a trap!"

"Sure. I'll do it." Volteer agreed, causing the other dragons to gasp and groan in shock. "But only to find out what it does."

Aaron felt General Icebreath push him from behind towards Volteer, and, shaking, Aaron walked up to the electric guardian, the dragon getting larger in appearance the closer he got. Volteer had lowered his head to Aaron's level, and Aaron stopped just in front of Volteer's snout, as Aaron's brown eyes met Volteer's yellow eyes. "A soft injection of electricity in here, if you please." Aaron said, pointing to the end in which the charger would be inserted into. "Very, very gentle…"

Volteer looked at it, then moved his mouth closer to the 'odd piece of junk', as Cyril was muttering at that particular point in time. Volteer slowly parted his lips, trying to release the smallest amount of electricity possible. Being such a wild element, sometimes it was hard to control the crackling energy. But the smallest beam of electricity came out of Volteer's large jaws, shooting into the charger slot silently. "That'll be good, thank you, Volteer." Aaron said, causing Volteer's jaws to clamp shut as his head jolted backwards.

"I can't believe I just did that." Volteer muttered.

"Yeah, good job, you muttonhead." Cyril groaned, punching Volteer in the shoulder.

"And… there we go!" Aaron said, holding the on button to his phone as the Apple logo appeared on the screen.

Aaron turned the phone to the dragons as the Apple logo disappeared and the lock screen appeared, the bright light causing the dragons to gasp in shock. "What wizardry is this?!" Cyril shouted.

"It's a phone." Aaron explained. "You can use it to call people, listen to music, play games, type notes and send emails."

"Whatever those things are." Volteer muttered.

"You don't even know what music is?!" Aaron exclaimed, filled with disbelief.

"Uh, no. 'Music' is a foreign word to us." Terrador explained.

"Even to Volteer, surprisingly." Cyril muttered.

"It's like a mixture of sounds and instruments to create a melodic tune. Music is generally used to show emotions. Here, I'll show you." Aaron said, opening the Music app on his phone and beginning to play Coldplay's _Viva la Vida_.

"Wait… what are we doing?!" Cyril shouted. "We don't want anything to do with your new ape wizardry and music or whatever all that other stuff you were saying was!"

"But…" Aaron started, stopping the song and turning off his phone, putting it back in his bag. "But I'm not an ape. I don't think apes would be physically and mentally able to create this stuff."

"You look almost _exactly_ like an ape! But… furless… and thin. I think you've only been starved and shaved." Spyro replied, a deep growl emanating from his throat as he spoke. "What else _could_ you be?!"

"Well, I'm a human. Apparently, we may have evolved from apes. Us humans are a lot more developed in terms of thinking processes, however gorillas and other apes are still quite clever. And ferocious, too. Especially the males." Aaron explained.

"So there are apes in your world too, if your theory is correct?" Terrador asked.

"Yes." Aaron confirmed.

"Are they violent, abhorrent creatures out to take over the world?" Volteer asked.

"What?! No!" Aaron exclaimed. "They eat fruit! They're calm creatures! They only ever attack out of defence!"

Terrador and Spyro exchanged confused looks, and Cynder spoke up. "Do they use weapons?" Cynder asked.

"No. They use they fists, claws and teeth. They're quite violent fights as well." Aaron said. "Come to think of it, our human fights aren't any better… just… more advanced."

"Again, if your theory of world travel was true, then… are there dragons?" Terrador asked out of curiosity.

"Again, that's a no. Dragons only exist in myths, books, movies and games. They're not real. So seeing dragons in real life… i-i-is a big deal to me." Aaron said.

"Alright, we went nowhere in this interrogation." Terrador groaned with frustration. "All this just got all the more confusing. This is now over! Everyone except the ape can go do whatever they want now. Everyone is free to go. We'll try again later and figure out what to do with the ape."

"Thank goodness." Aaron said, putting his bag on his back, shouting in shock as the metal cuffs were clamped back onto his wrists.

"Alright, ape. Follow me." General Icebreath said, stepping back from Aaron and opening the large doors as he walked back into the foyer.

Aaron followed General Icebreath, holding his breath as he was suddenly alone again with a very frightening dragon. _Spyro and Cynder were uncomfortably quiet in that… 'interrogation'._ Aaron thought. _I don't know what they were thinking, but I don't think it was good._


	5. Chapter 4: Alone

**This one's kind of a filler. And a boring one at that… This chapter isn't really that exciting, but it's kind of necessary, so enjoy if you can. Things will get much more interesting, I promise. This is only Chapter 4, after all.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

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Aaron groaned as a large wave of hot air hit him in the face as he walked back outside, the sun burning high in the air, shining directly down on Warfang. He didn't know whether Warfang's streets were more crowded or more desolate than when he was there earlier in the morning, but there was still a large number of dragons walking around getting from place to place, as well as a few moles scattered here and there. Most of them gave Aaron threatening glares as they bared their fangs at him as he walked past, while others either ignored him or didn't see him. The streets of Warfang sort of reminded Aaron of home. Dragons were sitting around and talking, some were eating in large stone restaurants with holes in the walls to create windows, and little hatchlings ran about, laughing and giggling crazily as they chased after each other, while others cooed as they followed their parents around Warfang. Older children, most likely teenagers, which were just taller than Aaron, sat chatting and laughing. He saw in the distance a large open area where the sun shone brightly down on it, the scorching heat reminding Aaron of a regular summer afternoon when the sun was high in the air and the temperature was well into the thirties. In the large area, there was a glass dome in which several dragons fought each other happily, jeering each other playfully as they took each other down. Several of them mentioned training and the names of the guardians, as well as the occasional mention of Spyro and Cynder. Aaron assumed that they were training for their combat classes or whatever they had. Aaron turned his head to look back at General Icebreath, who didn't seem to mind the heat of the sun. Many humans would have been complaining at the immense heat, but an _ice_ dragon didn't mind it at all, and that confused Aaron, who was beginning to sweat profusely.

A large stone building came up in the distance, fitted with iron bars covering the windows and a large drawbridge with a dried-up moat. Aaron supposed that the building was the prison; he hadn't gotten a good look at it as he was leaving. It was a colossal building, which made sense as during the war it needed to fit many grublins, orcs, trolls, rogue dragons, and of course, large squads of apes. As a matter of fact, everything in Warfang was huge. Warfang reminded him of a desert city, despite being surrounded by savannah plains with a wall of lush green forest around the savannah plains. The dragons here seemed very happy and laid back. Not much fighting apart from the friendly training Aaron saw earlier occurred, unlike the common brawl back on Earth, and all the dragons seemed to know each other and enjoy each other's company. Aaron decided he liked Warfang. Or he would, if he wasn't a prisoner in the large Dragon City.

"Get in!" General Icebreath ordered as the drawbridge opened.

Aaron followed General Icebreath into the prison as the drawbridge closed behind them when they entered. A fire dragon on guard turned towards General Icebreath and gave him a small smile. "Good afternoon, General Icebreath." the fire dragon greeted.

" _Good_?! Inferno, if you haven't noticed, I've had to spend the entire day guarding a blasted _ape_!" General Icebreath scolded, his rage boiling up inside him.

"Sorry, I didn't see the little brute. I get your point." Inferno said, snarling at Aaron and then bowing respectfully to General Icebreath.

"Apology accepted. Now follow me, you damned creature!" General Icebreath ordered coldly.

Aaron groaned inwardly and followed General Icebreath, walking next to the large, clacking claws. He looked back at Inferno and saw that the dark red fire dragon had iron armour covering his body, much like General Icebreath and the several other dragons he'd seen roaming around in the prison, but there was something different about Inferno. There was a loud order that was barked from the distance, and Inferno responded, locking the drawbridge shut and running off to where the loud shout came from. Aaron gasped as he saw scars visible on Inferno's limbs, peeking out from underneath the armour that covered his body. The most obvious scar, however, was on his face. The complete left side of his face was pink and fleshy, and his left eye was oddly coloured. It was black and white, almost grey in most areas, as composed to his right eye, which had a white sclera as normal and a vibrant red iris. There were scars that resembled claw marks across the right side of his face, going from just under his eye and across his mouth, ending on the jawline. Aaron wondered where Inferno got those scars, and felt bad for the fire dragon.

Aaron turned his gaze back in front of him to see that he had slowed down while he was looking at Inferno, falling behind General Icebreath, who looked back at Aaron and snarled. "Hurry up!" General Icebreath barked, causing Aaron to jump to a sprint as he caught up with the large ice dragon.

General Icebreath opened the large door to Aaron's prison cell and shoved him forcefully inside. Aaron stumbled forward, before falling face-first into the hard stone ground. "Stand up." General Icebreath ordered, and Aaron struggled to get up onto his knees, before standing up with slightly more ease.

Walking in himself, General Icebreath ripped the metal cuffs off Aaron's wrists, which had gone bright red due to the rubbing from the metal. Aaron brought his hands to his bag, whipping it off his back and placing it on the floor as he looked up at General Icebreath. "Have a horrible sleep, ape." General Icebreath spat. "I hope I don't see your bloody face in the morning."

Aaron winced at the rude comment, bringing his hand up to his forehead, feeling the dry, crusty blood that had stuck to his face. He fell to his knees, groaning in pain as his bare knees hit the hard, rocky prison floor, for he was only wearing shorts. Aaron readjusted himself so he was in a sitting position, bringing his bruised knees up to his face as he, unwillingly, let a few tears slip slowly out of his eyes. _This was not how I wanted this to go. I guess I got my childhood wish… To meet Spyro and Cynder. To meet the guardians. To meet a dragon._ Aaron thought. _But this went completely wrong. I've been mistaken for one of those ghastly apes, which I don't even know if they returned to normal after Malefor was defeated. And then I get slammed in the face by Terrador's tail, then put in prison in Warfang, and_ then _being interrogated by the heroes of my life! Being able to come back to_ The Legend of Spyro _after a hard day at school made me feel good. It made me look forward to something. It made me get through school with a smile on my face._

 _This… This is just the opposite of everything I knew about the Dragon Realms. Everything I dreamed of. Everything I looked forward to at the end of the day._

Aaron sniffled, wiping his brown eyes dry and running a hand through his black hair, before moving over to his bag. He would have grabbed his Nintendo 3DS to play a game to pass the time, but he felt unmotivated to play _Dawn of the Dragon_ , as it was the only game he brought with him. Now it seemed really stupid not to bring two or three different games with him, but then again, he had absolutely no idea that he would suddenly appear in the Dragon Realms. But he wanted to play a game so badly. He knew it wasn't the best idea, but he grabbed out his phone and played _Sonic the Hedgehog 2_ , a game he had just recently bought off the App Store and he was only just getting used to it after beating _Sonic the Hedgehog_. He didn't own a Sega Genesis as a child, but he was really into the _Sonic_ franchise thanks to _Sonic Unleashed_ for the Xbox 360, so when _Sonic the Hedgehog_ , followed by its sequel, came out onto the App Store, Aaron was excited to get them. He played _Sonic the Hedgehog 2_ silently for about thirty minutes, closing the app to find out that his battery had drained from fifty percent to thirty-five. He was still surprised at how the weak bolt of lightning from Volteer had managed to charge the phone as much as it did. Aaron shut down his phone to preserve his battery and slipped it back into his bag.

He heard quiet sounds of birds tweeting as they settled down for the night, as well as small crickets chirping. He heard the sound of wood snapping and metal clashing against metal as he heard what he suspected were moles working noisily in Warfang. Dragons used a lot of metal and wood for their daily lives, and moles, the majority of the time, only used wood, so the moles would constantly be getting things ready for themselves and the dragons. The moles worked long into the night, and as Aaron found it hard to sleep on the hard stone floor, he had heard everything until the moles stopped and packed up, leaving nothing but silence, as even the sound the birds and crickets made had died away.

Aaron rolled over uncomfortably on the rocky floor, groaning as even his bag didn't provide any softness to him. In fact, it was more uncomfortable than the ground, as everything in it made the bag lumpy. Sitting up and opening his lunch box, he took out a small box of crackers and ate about four crackers, before closing everything and putting it away to preserve his food. Aaron then zipped his bag shut and put it to the side, laying his head down on the solid rock. Aaron wished he could have his nice, warm bed back as he lay on the hard rock, shivering as the brisk, cold air of the night rushed through the barred windows high up on the large wall. Aaron would have attempted to try and climb up the wall and out of the prison cell as the barred window had holes large enough for him to squeeze through and the stone bricks had slots large enough for Aaron to stick his feet in, but he thought against it. He knew the dragons would come looking for him, and they could pick up his scent from the prison cell to find him. The action of escaping would also make him seem more mysterious and criminal-like, and he didn't want that attention drawn towards him combined with what he already had. The dragons would also assume that he would go to warn the apes and to possibly start another war. And so Aaron just lay on the cold rocks, shivering in the cold. He shuffled miserably into the corner of the prison cell to stay out of the cold air, and while it worked, he still struggled to get to sleep. It had seemed so easy on his first night, but alas, he was sleeping in soft grass. Aaron remembered the feel of the grass. It was almost silky, unlike the grass back on Earth that was prickly and itchy. Aaron tried to pretend he was still in the soft grass, remembering the feel of the silky plantation underneath him on the first night, trying to use that memory to soothe him to sleep. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Psst." a voice said, slicing through the silence, making Aaron freeze.

"Who's there?" Aaron asked, his voice shaking.

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" the voice whispered, making Aaron leap to his feet in shock.

* * *

 **By the way, at the start of the chapter you may have noticed the line 'the temperature was well into the thirties.' I'm Australian, and I use Celsius for temperature measurement. I know thirty is very,** ** _very_** **cold for Fahrenheit, so think for those who use Fahrenheit, think from the eighties to about a hundred.**

 **Anyway, that's enough about temperature conversion. I guess I'll see you next chapter. Things get really interesting next chapter. And until then, who do you think the voice belongs to?**


	6. Chapter 5: Escape

**Well dang it, the glitch happened again. I hope it's just a server problem, but it's getting really annoying...**

 **But onto topic with the story, things start to get real now! This was the first action sequence I had written in a long time back when I wrote this originally, so it's kinda alright compared to what I can write now. I've done a bit of extra work on it during the editing, and probably added another 100-200 words in this chapter, so I think it's all good.**

 **In response to 'Hitler's Moustache', I'm glad that you think it's a good story, but to be honest, this story isn't about a character going "Help I'm in an alternate dimension, please help me get back home and I put all my faith in you!" Aaron is pretty much trying to avoid the dragons at all costs, and he wants to get home out of his own accord. He will have a bit of help along the way, but he won't be seeking for help. If anything, he'll be the one helping those in trouble in this story. I don't want to give too much away, but that will happen later in the story.**

 **And in response to the guest 'LoNeWoLf', I will be continuing this story. I'm basically almost finished writing it. I've just got to post the remaining forty odd chapters of the story, and then it's done. But I want to take my time with finishing it and posting it. I've decided to post a new chapter when I finish writing one of the later chapters in the story, and I want to take my time so the quality is good. But I won't abandon this story. I will finish it.**

 **That's enough of my rambling. All in all, I'm pretty happy with this chapter, and more intense stuff begins to happen after this point. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Aaron noticed that the voice was rich and had a lot of femininity in it, but Aaron put the fact behind him as he realised that whoever was behind the voice had just asked if he wanted to escape. While that was true, it didn't feel right.

"I do... but… I might get suspicious. I already thought of climbing up there and squeezing out of the bars, but that would get suspicions up and I don't want that at the moment." Aaron explained, pointing up to the barred window.

"I can get you out of here." the voice replied. "I'll help you escape."

"First of all, it doesn't feel right to me." Aaron said. "Secondly, who and where are you? You're sort of creeping me out here."

It was then that Aaron noticed a big black blotch on the ground. Slowly, a dark silhouette rose out of the ground, causing Aaron's heart to lurch into his throat. But then he gasped when he realised who the silhouette belonged to. The creature had six large silver horns covering its head, three running along each side of the creature's head. A choker and bracers were present on the creature's body, and a large silver tailblade, shaped much like a jagged sword, sat at the end of its long tail, which glistened in the moonlight shining through the window in the cell. It also had blades on the ending joint of its wings, and its underbelly and wing membranes were a rich magenta colour. Its scales were a dark purple colour, and the creature was finished off with glistening emerald-green eyes that were filled with a sense of redemption and acceptance.

"Cynder?!" Aaron blurted with disbelief as the dark purple dragoness revealed her form from the shadows.

"Yes. It's me. I'm here to get you out." Cynder said, her voice no more than a whisper.

"But you were so… ruthless and unforgiving to me. You're the _last_ dragon I would expect to be the first to accept me." Aaron said.

"When you spoke, you spoke with ultimate sincerity. I felt that you were telling the truth, and you were too calm and innocent to be an ape. I believe your story." Cynder explained. "And most of all, the way everybody treated you reminded me of how I was treated after Spyro and I returned. Spyro and the guardians made sure I was accepted, and now I'm just a part of Warfang, just another dragoness that lives here. You need that acceptance."

Aaron stammered, dumbfounded by what Cynder was telling him. The dragoness continued, "I felt pity for you, young 'human' or whatever you called yourself. I looked at you near the end of that interrogation, and I saw myself. That's why I'm here to get you out."

Aaron stared at Cynder with shock. "Are… are you serious?" Aaron asked, grabbing his bag and whipping it around his back.

"So… are we leaving or not?" Cynder asked.

"You do know you're putting yourself on the wrong side of this, right?" Aaron asked.

"Yes." Cynder said. "I'm prepared for what may come my way."

"Alright. Let's go. Quickly." Aaron said, running towards Cynder.

"Quick, get on my back!" Cynder ordered calmly as Aaron climbed up her foreleg and onto her back. "Now hold on!"

Cynder turned and dove into the ground, cloaking herself and Aaron in the shadows. Aaron shuddered; the feeling of flying around in the shadows made him feel weird. He didn't know how Cynder was able to see and manoeuvre well while down in the shadows, but he didn't ask her as she was concentrating on keeping them concealed in the darkness. Then Aaron realised that she was a master at using the shadow element, and he mentally facepalmed. Warped and distorted sounds suddenly came out from nowhere, and Cynder groaned. "Great, my shadow's been seen!" Cynder scowled as she leapt up into the air, shooting out of the ground as they returned to the prison.

Cynder whirled around and used her siren scream to stun the guards that had seen her, and she bolted. They reached the main entrance and Aaron groaned with annoyance as he saw the closed drawbridge. "What are we going to do?! The drawbridge is closed!" Aaron shouted frantically.

As a response, Cynder shot her head forward, flicking a bright green glob of venom at the wooden drawbridge. The poison splattered across the closed drawbridge as it began to sizzle loudly. Cynder looked behind her as she saw three large guards running towards her. Aaron realised that they were normal adult dragons like the guardians and General Icebreath, and that made him remember why Spyro and Cynder were still quite small compared to them. They were in their last few years of being teenagers, meaning that they were about twice the height of Aaron, but about two metres shorter than most adult dragons. Cynder let out a shout as she turned around and bolted down a random corridor as she allowed time for the poison on the drawbridge to do its job.

Cynder ran down a thin stone corridor, her breath hard as shouts rose from behind her. The torches that lit up the corridor were creepy and ominous, spread out evenly, illuminating a little bit of the corridor, which was still quite dark even with the eerie orange glow of the flames. "Cynder, duck!" she heard Aaron call, and when she looked back she let out a shout and lowered her head, feeling the freezing beam of ice shoot over her head and hit the roof.

Cynder kept her head low so she could duck under the spiky ice that had collected on the roof in front of her. She groaned in pain as she couldn't duck low enough and a large spike sliced into her forehead, leaving a small cut that bled slowly. But Cynder kept running despite the pain in her forehead, knowing that Aaron's life, as well as hers, now that she had gotten into the situation with the 'ape', was in incredible danger. The guards behind them barked orders, and when Cynder ran into an opening, running into some sort of dining area, she let out a shout as several fire dragons just younger and shorter than her lunged at her. Cynder dodged, crashing into the wall and almost squashing Aaron. She got back up, rocking about wildly as she tried to pull her senses back together; she was incredibly dizzy. "Come on!" she growled at herself, shaking her head violently, and painfully, bringing her dizzy view back into proper proportions.

"Out there!" Aaron cried, pointing off into another corridor on the other side of the large room, moving his head closer towards Cynder's neck as a scorching stream of fire rushed behind over his head.

Cynder turned and ran, letting the shadow energy swirl around her as she dove into the ground again, hiding inside her shadow. The sounds of shouting and orders being barked was warped immensely as they hid inside Cynder's shadow, the odd energy swirling around them distorting everything. Cynder ran through the corridor as fast as she could, her shadow obscuring them from view, however when she ran into the light given off by the flames on the torches, Cynder's shadow became slightly visible. There was a shout, followed by deep, rumbling sounds in which Aaron assumed were the thundering footsteps of the dragons chasing them. A beam of ice struck the tail of Cynder's shadow, causing her to groan with pain as she lost her focus and burst out of her shadow, ice settling on her tail.

"Cynder?" General Icebreath asked, scoffing. "I expected better from you."

Cynder didn't say anything. She scrambled to her feet and ran, crying out in pain as her tail was weighted down to the ground, dragging along the stone floor. Aaron looked back at General Icebreath, realising he didn't have his armour on. That was the first time Aaron had seen General Icebreath without his thick metal armour on. However, it was the first for Cynder as well. He almost never took his armour off unless he was asleep or at home with his family. General Icebreath would have most likely been asleep at home; it was the middle of the night after all, and General Icebreath seemed a lot more short-tempered and icy right at that point in time. _Looks like big dragons… need their beauty sleep._ Aaron thought with fear, sweat dripping down his forehead as his chest tightened around his lungs, making it hard to breathe. _Alright, never wake up a big angry dragon with a short temper._

Several worried cries burst out from the guards and workers following General Icebreath as they chased Aaron and Cynder.

"Why is she helping the ape?"

"Is she turning back to her old ways?"

"I knew we couldn't trust her."

"Spyro's judgement was way off. She can't be trusted."

"SEPARATE THE APE FROM THE DRAGONESS!" General Icebreath roared, a cold, icy mist bellowing out of his massive jaws.

More complaints arose from the prison guards, and even from some of the prisoners and slaves in the prison. They muddled into one loud complaint, and Cynder struggled to get the comments out of her head. Aaron knew that Cynder was struggling with the murmurs, and he remembered everything the bullies back on Earth would tell him. He inched closer to Cynder's head, climbing softly up her neck and whispered, "Don't let what they say get to you. Trust me. I had to deal with a lot of this back at home."

Aaron saw a tear drip from Cynder's cheek, and his heart sunk. He looked behind him to see the dragons coming up behind them as General Icebreath's mouth began to glow a bright cyan colour as ice particles built up in his jaws. "Alright, I'm going. I can't let you be captured and untrusted because of me." Aaron said.

"What?! No!" Cynder cried, looking back, feeling Aaron's weight disappear off her back as the human leapt off it, landing on the ground and running off.

"He's off! Get him!" General Icebreath barked, mainly to Cynder.

Cynder ran out of the corridor and out into the indoor courtyard inside the prison, whirling around several times as she tried to pinpoint the location of Aaron, but he had disappeared from her sight. Torches burned brightly, giving the large, indoor courtyard an eerie orange glow and the dozens of screaming and working dragons that were running around made it almost impossible to find Aaron. Cynder looked back at General Icebreath, who was now alone as he tried to find Aaron, but was unsuccessful. General Icebreath caught his gaze on Cynder, and growled menacingly before barking an order at Cynder, "What are you waiting for?! Find the ape and slaughter it!"

"Wait, what?!" Cynder asked, dumbfounded by what General Icebreath had just told her to do.

"What do you mean, 'what?!'" General Icebreath retorted, his face flushing pink with anger. "That thing is too dangerous to have around anymore!"

"No! I refuse to kill him!" Cynder refused, stamping her paw against the ground to emphasise her point.

"I am an army general, Cynder! I don't care if you _did_ help rid Malefor of this world, but I expect you to obey me, Cynder!" General Icebreath shouted.

"I make my own decisions, Icebreath!" Cynder roared, using his name for the first time without the 'General' title. "I always have, even in Malefor's corruption! And if the thought hasn't occurred to you, I led armies as well! I was an army general, too, Icebreath! And I don't care if it is different to your position! I feel like I should be able to make my own decisions without being bossed around by some lunatic!"

"'LUNATIC?!' YOU _DARE_ CALL ME A LUNATIC?!" General Icebreath thundered, cold, icy mist bellowing out of his nostrils.

Filled with rage, General Icebreath stormed towards Cynder, who let out a shout of fear as she realised that the large ice dragon was going to attack her. She disappeared into her shadow, zooming with massive agility under General Icebreath. She moved around in circles around General Icebreath's paws, causing him to whirl around and get incredibly dizzy as he tried to keep his eyes on Cynder, anticipating her leap out of the ground. As General Icebreath's head spun, he fell to the ground with a crash, causing Cynder to leap out of the ground and run out deep into the courtyard, which was surrounded by several dozen scurrying dragons trying to find and exterminate Aaron. Not knowing what to do, Cynder began to shout. "Human! Human! Whatever your name is!" Cynder shouted, knowing that her efforts were useless, especially since if Aaron was hiding, he would not expose himself as to potentially get cornered by a dragon on the offensive.

Cynder whirled around on the spot, looking frantically for a sign of the human, but failed to find him. "Dang it. I should have asked for his name." Cynder muttered bitterly, slapping herself mentally as she ran about, looking in boxes and stands and under tables, looking in places she would expect someone as small as Aaron to hide.

Cynder hated the noise. It made it hard for her to think under intense stress. She heard multiple dragons screaming, shouting and barking orders, but she didn't know if any of those shouts could be Aaron's dying screams, and it made her flustered. She looked behind her and let out a small yelp as she leapt behind a table, bringing her head slowly up above the table. There was an electric dragon, clad in thick iron armour, which glistened in the intense torchlight. And he was talking to Volteer. And the worst bit was, that next to Volteer was Spyro. Cynder groaned. _If I'm ever caught by Spyro, he won't be happy. I know he's kind-hearted and generally very calm and conserved, but all dragons have their limits. If he finds me helping an 'ape', which I_ know _that the human isn't one, he'll be really angry at me._ Cynder thought, the simple thought of Spyro getting angry at her and thinking that she was getting on the ape's side against made her worry.

Cynder watched as Spyro and Volteer nodded and separated in a flurry of flapping wings, leaving the electric dragon guard alone, who also flew up into the air to search for Aaron. Cynder suddenly wished that the courtyard wasn't so large in height. It was occasionally used for exercise sessions during the prison, and if there were dragons, which there were during Malefor's time, as Cynder wasn't the only one he corrupted, the dragons needed to be able to fly. So the large courtyard was filled with dozens of dragons flying in the air, as well as dozens of more dragons scurrying about frantically on the ground.

The dark purple dragoness let out a groan of worry as she ran off in search of Aaron once again, running over to the other side of the indoor courtyard where there were many boxes and barrels that she hadn't looked in. She ripped the boxes and barrels open, and when she ripped the lid off a barrel, she let out a startled yelp as she found Aaron inside it, screaming, thinking that she was an enemy. "I think I can handle myself right now, Cynder!" Aaron whispered hoarsely.

"You need my shadow element to get out of here, whatever your name is!" Cynder said, knocking the barrel over and causing Aaron to fall face-first into the ground.

"My name is Aaron." Aaron said bitterly, picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off.

"THERE HE IS!" a loud roar burst from the middle of the indoor courtyard, and Aaron and Cynder snapped their head back towards the sound to see General Icebreath running towards them. "AND THE FUGITIVE DRAGON AS WELL!"

"Crap." Cynder groaned. "Climb on."

Aaron leapt onto Cynder's leg, scrambling up onto her back as she rushed into a sprint from a dead stand-still. Cynder ran off down the corridor as an idea came to her head. "Aaron! The poison! It should have eaten through the drawbridge now!" Cynder cried.

"Then go there! Quickly!" Aaron shouted.

Cynder sped up her sprint, her breath heaving as she ran faster than she ever had. She heard the dragons coming up behind her, and she dove into her shadow, moving speedily through the ground, bursting out of her shadow as she reached the entrance foyer of the prison in less than thirty seconds. Aaron leapt off Cynder's back and ran towards the disgusting, mouldy drawbridge, which had a massive hole in it thanks to the poison that Cynder had spat all over it. "I don't know when I'll see you next, Cynder, but I'm glad that you were the first dragon to believe in me." Aaron shouted at Cynder, who was running close behind him.

"Don't jump, Aaron!" Cynder cried.

"I can swim! Make yourself safe! Pretend you were trying to hurt me!" Aaron replied, leaping through the hole in the drawbridge and landing in the watery moat with a splash.

Cynder stared at the murky brown water in disbelief, waiting for Aaron to resurface, but her attention was pulled off Aaron as General Icebreath's shouting caused her to jump and whirl around to look at the ice dragon. "There's the fugitive! Pin her!" General Icebreath roared, and two armoured earth dragons leapt forward, grabbing Cynder and yanking her to the ground, holding her in place so she couldn't move.

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a moment!" a voice all too familiar to Cynder shouted. " _Cynder's_ the fugitive?! Well wh-wh-wh-what did she do wrong to become a f-fugitive?!"

Cynder looked up at Spyro, tears welling up in her eyes. She winced, trying not to make it too visible to Spyro, as General Icebreath spoke back with bitterness in his voice. "Your friend here was trying to help the ape to escape from the prison!" General Icebreath scowled. "And when I ordered her to kill the ape, she spoke back at me with more disrespect in her voice than I hear from most _prisoners_!"

"Cynder! You _wouldn't_!" Spyro said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh, but she _did_!" General Icebreath roared, rage burning in his icy blue eyes and a dark grin eating its way across his lips. "I heard her speaking to the ape, and she spoke to it like a _friend_! She tried to _defend_ it!"

Aaron's words filled her head. _Pretend you were trying to hurt me!_ he had said just before he leapt into the dirty moat.

"I was going to betray it once I gained its trust!" Cynder lied, her breath going hard as the earth dragons applied more pressure on her body. "I was planning on killing it, just not now!"

"And why's that?" General Icebreath snapped.

"Because of two reasons! The first is because I don't want to have to kill in public! I did so much of that as the Terror of the Skies that I don't want the wrong image being seen of me! I don't want to be seen as a killer again!" Cynder pleaded.

"This is an _ape_ , Cynder! AN APE!" Spyro shouted, causing Cynder to flinch, her claws clenching. "It doesn't matter when it comes to a beast like that! It's different to a dragon!"

"The second reason is because it…" Cynder said, pausing, regretting the words that were about to come out of her mouth, as it seemed almost like she was indeed going to betray Aaron. "It would seem more torturous if… if I seemed like its friend, only to turn on it suddenly and kill it. They tortured dragons, so it makes sense to do the same to them."

Cynder looked up at General Icebreath as he blinked several times, his face showing an unsteady expression. General Icebreath spluttered, releasing strange sounds from his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say. "I believe her, General." Spyro said.

General Icebreath looked at Spyro, then back at Cynder, before deciding that Spyro's acceptance was enough for him. "Fine. Let her go." General Icebreath ordered.

Cynder released the breath that she had held in for a long time as the earth dragons removed their paws off Cynder, standing up and walking back to General Icebreath's side. General Icebreath spoke again. "Now, if you begin to act suspicious and a bit _too_ friendly towards the ape, we'll assume you're accepting him as a _real_ friend." he said bitterly. "Make it look real to him, but fake to us. Got it? Because if any of us think you're beginning to make a friend with that ape, you're coming here."

General Icebreath's words caught Cynder off guard. How would she make her friendship with Aaron appear fake to the other dragons? She actually _wanted_ to make a friend with the human. She wanted him to feel at home in a world that was not truly his world at all. Cynder felt that Aaron needed a second chance. Again, his words echoed in her head. _Don't let what they say get to you. Trust me. I had to deal with a lot of this back at home._

 _He must have been through a hard life back where he came from._ Cynder thought. _He needs a second chance. And right now, only I can give that to him. Hopefully Spyro comes along with acceptance. I can't hide this from the one I revealed to that I loved two years ago when we beat Malefor. If not… I don't know how I'll hide this from Spyro._

"Understood?!" General Icebreath snarled, interrupting her thoughts.

"Y-y-yes, Icebreath." Cynder said.

" _General_ Icebreath." the ice dragon corrected bitterly.

"Yes, _General_ Icebreath." Cynder repeated, glaring angrily at General Icebreath, who, lucky for Cynder, didn't catch the rude, disrespectful expression that was on her face.

Volteer stepped forward out of the crowd of dragons that watched Cynder lie to them. "Alright, Spyro and Cynder. We're returning home." he said. "Terrador and Cyril were a bit concerned, anxious, apprehensive even, about your disappearance, but most importantly, Spyro as well. We want answers at the Warfang Temple in the morning. For now, it is a necessity to snooze. We've had plentiful amounts of racket and combat for one night."

Spyro yawned in agreement, and Cynder groaned as she hoisted her body off the ground. "Let's go." Spyro said impatiently and groggily.

Growling with annoyance, a fire dragon, ranked similarly to General Icebreath, released a fireball at the drawbridge, blasting it to smithereens. "General Icebreath, we need a new drawbridge. That was had gone old and mouldy, like some sort of poison had eaten at it." the dragon reported.

"Don't question." Volteer snapped at General Icebreath, who only gave the guardians authority to boss him around. "We'll acquire the responses we want tomorrow."

Volteer gave Cynder an angry look before launching himself into the night sky, leaping out of the gaping hole that was left over from the drawbridge being blasted to bits. Spyro gave a confused and worried look at Cynder before following Volteer into the night sky. Hesitantly, Cynder looked back at General Icebreath and the rest of the guards, all of which had stern, emotionless, untrustworthy looks on their faces. Cynder leapt into the sky, opening her wings as she caught the air. She looked down at the mucky brown water with sorrow as she hoped Aaron would make it out of the moat safely. She hoped she would see the human again, while at the same time she hoped she would never see him again. She didn't want Aaron to get in trouble. In danger. She wanted him safe. Cynder looked forward and pushed all her thoughts behind her as she looked ahead of her, following Volteer and Spyro to the Warfang Temple.


	7. Chapter 6: Outcast

**A lot of people weren't happy with my decision of having Cynder help Aaron escape the prison in the last chapter. I want to address a few of those comments. If you don't care about the why behind the what, or you agree with my plotline, or are simply too lazy to read this A/N, then you can continue to the story, because this A/N will be slightly lengthier, so hold tight.**

 **Firstly, a guest was sceptical because given Cynder's past with the apes, she would probably have been the least accepting of Aaron. I do understand that, and while writing it, I was having a little argument in my head for that scene. Because it makes sense, and also knowing Cynder's personality, she would be one to want to rip out Aaron's throat. But here's the thing I figured out. Given Cynder's past, she would know** ** _exactly_** **what an ape would be, by appearance, personality, etc. She was sceptical at the start, but she would have come to realise that Aaron actually wasn't an ape, since everything he did during the interrogation scene was definitely not something an ape would do. Mainly the fact that Aaron didn't try to attack the dragons at all, and was okay with a little conflict from Cyril and Volteer. Plus, she got a second chance from Spyro, and was judged by everyone who saw her after she was rescued from her corruption. She figured she didn't want that for Aaron. She didn't want to make the mistake of judging Aaron like the many dragons that judged her. I feel like this particular point is turning into a ramble, and I think I've proved my point, so I'll go onto the next point.**

 **Next, 'pyrodragon58' had five very sceptical comments about the story, all of which make plenty of sense. I want to address each one of them, because they're kind of important. The first two points they made, were 'human getting trapped in different dimension' and 'human gets attacked by good guys because he looks like an enemy' are kind of overused, but what is original these days? The first one doesn't really have a rebuttal, so I'm going to leave that, but the second one does have an explanation. The 'good guys' in this story won't really seem like the good guys in it. I think Cynder's affiliation with Aaron is quite clear, and the others' will be decided later, but there will be a bit of conflict and splitting up within the characters of the story. The third point was 'human gets a main character who resents his species to feel pity for him'. There is a big explanation for this, which was mainly explained in the paragraph above. But it was also Cynder's** ** _own choice_** **. Aaron didn't** ** _get_** **Cynder to feel pity for him. She felt pity for him among her own accord, given her past experiences with being judged wrongly. She felt that Aaron didn't really need that, especially since he was knew to the Dragon Realms. The fourth point that was made was 'main character helps him escape and cause tension between good guys'. I felt a bit of betrayal makes a good tension. Another reason why I made the character that helped Aaron escape the prison be Cynder. She will be accused, but other than that, I didn't really see another way to get tension between the** ** _dragons_** **, as I wanted tensions between** ** _everyone_** **in this story; humans, dragons, cheetahs (which will be introduced later in the story), and some other animal species that will appear later on. The fifth point was 'next chapter, the human befriends every single good guy even though he looks like an enemy'. That will** ** _not_** **happen** ** _any time soon_** **. It may happen, I'm slightly unsure how I want to end this story at the moment, but there will be a lot of conflict between** ** _everyone_** **in this story. Near the end, it will happen, but it will only happen due to… certain, slightly gruesome circumstances. That's all I'm giving away.**

 **And finally, 'adlashawn' PMed me, and I've already answered their question, but it was an important one that I'm sure a few people may have been annoyed about, and I want to address it in public. They asked whether Aaron would get dark powers or something similar, as I've made him sound so weak at the moment, and they didn't think that Aaron should deserve to be treated how the dragons have treated him so far. Firstly, Aaron has been accused of being an ape. That's the main reason why Aaron's been treated like crap in this story. Second of all, I feel the whole 'human gets dark powers' or 'human turns into dragon' plotline is very overused. I wanted to do something a bit different. So yes, compared to the dragons, Aaron will be very weak. I will give him a weapon later on, but in terms of magical powers like the dragons, he will have none. I just wanted to try something different. If you want a good 'human gets dark powers' or 'human turns into dragon' story, I'd recommend** ** _Aimless_** **by 'The Silent Insomniac' or the** ** _Obsidian_** **series by 'BirmanDragon'. But this story will not have anything to do with those themes.**

 **In conclusion, I understand if you don't like my decisions with my plot. I've read many stories where I don't like the plot and that I would've like to see it go in a different direction, but after reading them to the end, I actually do end up enjoying. I've even read stories I don't like, period. If you don't like my story, you are allowed to not like it, and you are allowed to stop reading it if you don't like it. You don't have to read this if you don't want to. But I really do hope that you are all enjoying it.**

 **Enough of the ramble, onto the story. Fillers always seem really boring after action sequences…**

* * *

Groaning, Aaron pulled himself out of the mucky brown water, climbing up onto the shore on the other side of the prison tower, where he was sure no dragons would be able to see him. The walls of Warfang were just a few metres in front of him, and he realised that the prison was at the edge of the large city. The large wall of the Dragon City loomed twenty metres tall, turning Aaron into a puny figure. Aaron sat down, whipping off his bag, which was dripping wet, like he was. He grabbed a small tuft of grass that was sprouting out of the rough ground, wiping his hands clean as he then opened his bag, grabbed out his phone and pressed the on button. Aaron breathed a sigh of relief when he realised it was working, surprisingly, then scoffed as he realised he should have figured it out when he touched the phone; it was bone dry. Aaron shut the phone off once again, putting it in his bag and whipping it back around his shoulder as it settled on his back.

Aaron looked around. Warfang was massive, which wasn't surprising, given the size of lots of the massive cities on Earth, and the increased size scale with the dragons. He knew he'd be able to find a safe place to sleep, hopefully one that was a lot softer than his prison cell. But he knew one thing, and that was that he wanted to get as far away from the prison as he could. So, with nothing but the moonlight as a light source, Aaron trudged around the edges of Warfang, trying to keep as close to the large wall as possible. He didn't want to go anywhere near the middle, as that place was swarming with dragons in the day, and if he ended up sleeping in, which he most likely would as the moon was well past completely straight, signifying that it was past midnight. Aaron walked for several minutes, finding a nice spot with soft sand and a little bit of soft, silky grass to lie down in. Aaron sat down, took off his bag and grabbed a muesli bar, eating half of it and putting the half-filled wrapper back in his lunchbox. He zipped his bag shut and laid down against the grass and soft sand, curling the grass up like a small pillow and pulling his bag over him to keep him warm, as well as keeping him hidden from view from any dragons who liked going out on night-flights or whatever, as his clothes were brightly coloured.

Sighing as he was able to sink into the silky grass and the soft sand, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Aaron dreamt of his teenager years once again, coming home from school bruised and battered after a fight with the bullies. He had a delicious snack of cookies-and-cream flavoured ice-cream and walked into the special 'gaming room' that he had in his house. This was what he looked forward to every day. In his dream, Aaron could tell that it was a Tuesday. He had no chores to do on Tuesdays back when he was a teen, and that meant that after he had changed out of his school uniform and had a snack, he was ready to turn on his PlayStation 2 and play a game. At this point in time, _The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night_ had just recently came out, and Aaron was super excited to play it. So he loaded up the game and pressed Load Game, selecting his save file as he was ready to fight Gaul, the final boss of the second game of the series. Aaron smiled as the loading screen disappeared, but, all of a sudden, something went wrong. The screen went black, and super unsettling ambient music started playing. Two blinding white eyes appeared on screen, giving the teenage Aaron a fright. A silhouette could be made as dark purple energy swirled around the figure, creating a visible shape of a dragon that looked much like Spyro. The once gold horns and underbelly were a dark bronze colour, and a menacing snarl had etched its way across Spyro's snout. A warped voice spoke, and, oddly, there were no subtitles at the bottom of the screen, meaning Aaron had to figure out what the voice was saying himself.

"You traitor! You brought her back on the wrong side! It's all your fault, _ape_!"

The silhouette burst out of the television screen as a pitch black dragon enveloped in shadow with a dark purple aura of dark energy leapt towards Aaron, letting out a loud roar. The dragon's jaws rushed in front of Aaron's face. The last thing Aaron saw was the dragon's red teeth.

Aaron woke up with a shocked gasp, trying to hold his scream in as to not draw attention to himself. He looked up in the sky to see that the sun was just beginning to rise. Aaron groaned, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get the scary image out of his mind. The black dragon he saw was in fact Dark Spyro, and he knew that the boss fight with Gaul was where Dark Spyro was introduced, but what was with the odd image of Dark Spyro on the screen? And it seemed like Dark Spyro was talking to him right there and then, breaking the fourth wall. It was almost like Dark Spyro knew that Aaron was in the Dragon Realms and that everyone saw him as an ape, including Spyro himself. The dream didn't make any sense to Aaron, although it was extremely frightening.

Wiping the sweat off his face, Aaron extended his arms out and stretched, a yawn escaping from his mouth. He grabbed his bag and opened it, pulling out his lunchbox and taking out the half-eaten muesli bar from several hours earlier, eating the rest of it and remembering to put the wrapper back in his bag after what happened in Pyra's cave. He zipped up his bag and put it on his back, but he didn't stand up. He was too tired. Aaron had barely gotten four hours of sleep. On a normal day, he would have tried to roll over and get back to sleep, but in a world filled with dragons that were utterly terrified of him and that would attempt to kill him the first chance they got, Aaron had to be awake from sunrise until the sun set. Or even still, late into the night. He would possibly have to stay awake all night and sleep in the day. This meant that Aaron was going to be very sleep deprived, and if a sensitive nerve was touched he would snap at any moment, which would not be good for him. So he needed to learn to control his temper, because he was going to be very sleep deprived for a long time.

Suddenly a thought came to his mind. _Should I leave Warfang? It'll be better for me, and better for everyone else. I'll be safe, and the dragons don't have to worry about me._ Aaron thought, hating the thought but agreeing with it anyway. _Goodbye, Cynder. Thanks for helping me last night. I don't know why you did, but thank you._

Looking up at the massive wall of Warfang and sighing, Aaron began to climb up it. The stone bricks stuck out enough for Aaron to get a good footing as he climbed up. He had almost reached the top before he was stopped by a voice.

"Where do you think you're going?"

It was unmistakeably Cynder. Her voice was too iconic for Aaron to forget, and Aaron groaned and turned around, looking down at Cynder. "I have to go." he said. "I'm not safe here, nor am I welcome here. The dragons won't have to worry about me if I leave. Everyone will be happy."

"You won't." Cynder said. "You don't know how to survive out there."

"I'm sure I'll figure out something, Cynder. But I haven't been happy since I realised that all the dragons here thought I was an ape, and… and I didn't feel welcome. At first even _you_ rejected me. _Spyro_ rejected me. That hit me hard." Aaron explained. "You and Spyro were my heroes. Spyro especially. And to find you two speaking bitterly about me and rejecting me, thinking I wasn't who I was… that… that wasn't too easy to take in. So that's why I'm going. I'm going so I don't have to bother about that feeling, and so you dragons don't have to worry about me. It's for everyone's good."

With that, Aaron turned and climbed over the wall. Cynder looked up, watching as Aaron disappeared over the top of the wall, sighing sadly. Aaron could hear this from the other side of the wall that he climbed carefully down. He landed in the silky green grass, looking back up at the walls of Warfang and wiping a tear from his eye as he whirled around and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the forest he came in. _I need to get back home._ Aaron thought. _I must get home._

Aaron sprinted into the forest, looking around for the well that he had resurfaced in. He looked around frantically as he tried retracing his steps, but after several minutes, he got lost, the large amount of trees clouding his vision of everything. Even Warfang was gone from his view. _At least I can't see Warfang anymore._ Aaron thought, wiping sweat off his forehead.

Aaron groaned, knowing he had to go somewhere. He began to trudge slowly onwards, only walking in one direction, while looking in every direction he could to find something. On the one occasion, he stumbled across a rabbit. He would have chased after it to get it for food, but he was too tired, and the rabbit bounced off, filled with energy. Energy, Aaron realised with a groan, was something he was short on. He sat down, taking his bag off as he lay in the thick, silky green grass. Closing his eyes, Aaron fell asleep very quickly. Aaron didn't dream.

When he woke up, he noticed that it was extremely bright, like it was noon. Aaron smiled, knowing that he had gotten at least another two or three hours of sleep and grabbed his bag, whirling it onto his back as he stood up and trudged on in the forest.

Aaron was probably walking for an hour or so before he heard the sound of running water. His ears picked up the clean, pristine sound and a smile made its way across his face. Aaron ran towards the sound, almost tripping twice as he did so, the shoelaces on his left shoe coming undone as they caught beneath a rock, causing Aaron to trip a third time. About three minutes of running passed, and Aaron sighed as he came across a clearing, looking down into a large ditch that was lush and green that had rocks scattered about it, as well as a waterfall coming down from one side and creating a crystal blue lake at the bottom of it. Aaron gasped, climbing down into the ditch and running towards the water, before taking a sip and sighing as the water ran down his throat, dripping down his chin. He grabbed his water bottle out of his bag and emptied it on the grass, as the water was now old and hot. Aaron scooped up the fresh, clean water in his water bottle and closed it, putting it bag in his bag. It wasn't like he needed the water bottle, because he decided he would stay in the ditch until he grew hungry, where he would go looking for fruit or berries or something like that. It had a good place to sleep, and had good water.

Aaron sighed happily. He could actually live quite substantially in the Dragon Realms now that he was away from the main inhabitants which had their name in the name of the world they lived in. _I still can't believe I had to leave like that. I don't know how hard that hit Cynder, but I had to._ Aaron thought. _I finally meet dragons, my favourite creature thanks to_ Spyro the Dragon _, including Spyro and Cynder themselves, as well as the Guardians, and they all reject me. Cynder finally came around, and I didn't want to leave like I did._

 _Cynder still confuses me, though. What was her_ real _motivation? Why did she help me? Should I try and be friendly to her if I see her again? Will_ she _? I'm so confused…_

Aaron let out a groan as he sat down on a rock, putting his head in his hands. _What am I supposed to do now?_ he thought. _I have no friends here. The dragons wouldn't accept me as a friend, and I'm too far away from any other inhabitant that can talk or live like a human._

A stick snapped, causing Aaron to jerk out of his position, his head looking around frantically. There was silence for a few seconds, and then, there it was again. The sound of a stick snapping. Followed by more silence. Aaron looked around, confused and panicking, wondering who had found him. There was a twang sound, and Aaron looked in the direction of the sound to let out a shout and duck as an arrow whizzed over his head. _An arrow? What animals are archers here in the Dragon Realms…?_ Aaron thought, slowing down with realisation. _Cheetahs._

* * *

 **So the cheetahs have been introduced. There will be plenty more of th** **em, so it'll be something to look forward to. In the meantime, it's up to you to figure out who it is. It's probably very obvious who it could be. Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter. We'll be seeing a bit more of the dragons then.**


	8. Chapter 7: Disagreements

**I apologise for my hell of an A/N last chapter so I'll keep this one short, especially since I don't really have any reviews to respond to, so that's all good and dandy.**

 **We get a bit more into the dragons' side of the story now, and the POV will switch between Aaron and the dragons on the occasion. Generally, it will be Cynder's POV, like it is for this chapter, but there may be the odd occasion where the chapter or scene is based around Spyro's POV or the guardians'.**

* * *

"Okay, so how do you explain what we saw last night?!" Spyro snapped, glaring at Cynder angrily.

"Calm down, Spyro! I've never seen you this upset before!" Cynder said defensively.

"And he's not the only one! You had us worried sick, Cynder!" Terrador growled, showing his occasional anger in large bursts. "We didn't know what had happened to you, and we feared the ape must have escaped and taken you!"

"But to discover that you were at the prison, seemingly _helping_ the ape flee, according to General Icebreath!" Volteer finished. Cynder noticed his use of smaller words instead of his large vocab. "We want answers! Now!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Cynder exclaimed, stepping back, realising she was trapped in the same situation as Aaron was during the interrogation the day before.

"Cynder? _Now_!" Terrador rumbled sternly.

Cynder shivered at the force behind Terrador's deep voice. Terrador hardly ever let his anger show like this, and when he _did_ let it show, it was incredibly nerve-racking. And it wasn't too settling to know that Volteer and Cyril were also mad at her. Even _Spyro_ was upset. And Spyro and Volteer were generally very calm dragons. Volteer was always happy and bright, being optimistic about everything, except grave problems that could involve death. Volteer knew when to be serious, but even then, he was never angry. And Spyro was calm and relaxed. He was never in a hurry to do anything, but he always got things done when they needed to. He almost always had a smile on his face, and, much like Terrador, never let his anger show. It was very uncharacteristic for all three of them to be bubbling with anger at once. Cyril was an exception. He was almost always angry. And Cynder didn't remember much of Ignitus when he was alive, but the fire guardian was calm most of the time, but did let his anger out on the occasion. But being a fire dragon, Cynder assumed it was hard to let boiling anger like that stay inside. It would have literally been burning inside with a live flame.

Cynder brought her thoughts back to the real world with the sound of Cyril's impatient, tapping claws on the hard marble floor. Impatient and grumpy expressions were on all four dragons' faces, and Cynder shrunk back on herself. She knew she needed to give an explanation to the guardians, and to Spyro, and she groaned in annoyance before speaking.

"Well… as I told Spyro and Volteer last night, I decided to fake a 'friendship' with the ape and gain its trust. Then when it thinks I'm its friend, I'll turn on it and kill it. It seems good enough for payback to the apes because they tortured many dragons during the war." Cynder explained, hating herself for the words that had come out of her mouth twice now.

"And I'm worried… how?" Cyril asked sarcastically. "Oh, that's right! Because if I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who _led_ the apes, and on the occasion, _you_ were the one who tortured dragons! Not the apes!"

Cynder was struck hard by the hurtful words that burst out of Cyril's mouth. She could tell that he was more angry than usual. But he did speak the truth, however. Under Malefor's corruption, Cynder not only led the apes, but she also did take over the apes' torture programs on the odd occasion, doing the torturing herself.

"Cyril _does_ have a valid point." Terrador muttered. "It does seem a little worrying that this sort of thing could be happening again."

"But Terrador, this is an _ape_. Cynder's right; it seems like the _perfect_ way for payback. After everything they inflicted on us, the apes need a punishment that is _worse_ than what they did to one dragon, because they tortured thousands of dragons. I even heard stories that the apes accidentally killed a few dragons because the torturing was too much for the dragons' bodies to handle." Spyro explained.

"Do you _seriously_ go with _everything_ Cynder says, Spyro? I mean… I recognise that you two… _like_ each other and all, but… this just appears a bit… excessive, extreme, and ultimately unnecessary. Completely biased, even, if I must add." Volteer complained.

"Shut up, you walking dictionary." Cyril scowled.

"And for your record, I _don't_ go with everything she says, Volteer. There's been a couple times where I've either taken my own path or Cynder listens to me." Spyro explained.

"Yeah? Give us an example." Volteer deadpanned.

"Well… uh… let's see… I… she… we…" Spyro spluttered, before letting a growl emanate from his throat. "You know what?! Just forget it!"

"Still, Cynder's known to be a bit of a rebel. What if she goes against her word and actually creates a legitimate friendship with the ape?" Terrador asked.

"Then we kill the ape for her." Spyro said darkly.

"Whoa, Spyro! That's probably one of the darkest things I've ever heard you say!" Cynder exclaimed, still trying to determine whether Spyro had actually said that or not.

"It's no different than the war. We killed thousands of apes. It should be no different for this one." Spyro explained.

 _Of course it is… this human… Aaron… he's not an ape. He's not as bad as everyone says he is. He was speaking of leaving for the good of the dragons and stuff like that._ Cynder thought. _An ape wouldn't ramble on about the good of dragon-kind and all that other stuff._

"Cynder, Spyro is right. No matter how intense it may sound, the ape needs to be killed. We can't get rid it into this world or keep it chained up. It found a way to escape the prison and it could do it again. We don't know. And if it gets loose into the world, we don't know what damage it'll do on other places like the Cheetah Village in Avalar, just to give one example." Terrador said.

Spyro gave Cynder a nasty smile before a neutral look filled his face as he looked back at the guardians with interest. Cynder frowned when Spyro gave her that look. It was almost boastful, which was unlike Spyro in every way the word 'boastful' could be described. Then she picked up on something that Terrador said. They only knew she had helped Aaron escape. They didn't know that she was the one that broke him out of his cell.

"When the ape is found again, he won't be put in prison another time, just to make Cynder's bond towards the ape more accurate to the ape. Possibly even we may as well go in on the performance, as well." Volteer explained. "The ape will still be observed continuously and heavily guarded, as we don't want it doing anything too bad."

"But Volteer, that'll make the act seem a bit suspicious." Cynder pointed out, not wanting Aaron to be uncomfortable by the many other dragons that would be guarding him. "What if our spying eyes were hidden? Like if the guards were in disguise as normal everyday citizens. Maybe even the normal day citizens would be able to help us out."

"Cynder makes a fair point." Terrador said, his deep voice rumbled.

"But Cynder, your descriptions on what you plot to do with the ape merely brings up an additional question. The ape escaped from the prison through a _giant gaping hole_ in the drawbridge formed by _poison_!" Volteer yelled, his anger surfacing, resorting to short, basic words in his angry fluster. "AND _YOU'RE_ THE ONLY DRAGON WHO CAN _USE_ POISON!"

"Calm down, Volteer. I'm sure there's also an explanation for this." Terrador said, putting a wing around Volteer to calm down the electric guardian.

"It is. You see, the ape and I got into a small fight and… he dodged one of my poison attacks, which accidentally hit the drawbridge. It just so happened that he managed to get out of the way and during the chase the venom would have eaten through the drawbridge enough to make a hole big enough for the ape to fit through." Cynder explained, trying hard to create a believable story.

The guardians exchanged odd looks before Terrador spoke up. "Alright, we believe you, Cynder. I think we're done for now." Terrador said, looking over to Volteer questioningly. "Are we?"

"No we're not. Now that the primary problem is over and done with, now onto the subsequent problem." Volteer muttered, his voice going into a deadpan.

"Wait… there's another?!" Cynder asked with shock, whipping her head around to look at Volteer.

"Absolutely, Cynder. Your unnecessary, unwanted and extreme disrespect towards General Icebreath last night." Volteer said dryly.

"Wait… what?!" Terrador asked, and Cynder realised that this was the first time Terrador and Cyril had heard of this.

"General Icebreath is our best and most trusted guard! He's in the highest rank and almost everybody likes him, including Spyro! What could Cynder have done to come across so disrespectful as such and what motives did she have?!" Cyril asked, before looking at Cynder angrily. "Now remember something for future reference, whatever you say to General Icebreath is said to me. After all, I _am_ his brother."

Cynder's eyes widened. She didn't know that. She looked at Spyro, who also looked quite surprised. "I-I-I didn't know you had a brother, Cyril! Let alone General Icebreath!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Yeah. I'm the elder brother. General Icebreath is the youngest. We have another brother that's one year younger than I, but he went missing just before the war started." Cyril explained. "Ah, I still remember the good old days where us three brothers would go out into the forest and freeze up everything, being the mischievous children we were! General Icebreath was nicknamed Li'l Icy at the time. He loved it. If you'd call him that now, of course, he'd first question how you knew of that name, and second of all he'd be _incredibly_ mad."

"Looks like they both have a similar temper." Cynder muttered quietly.

"SILENCE, FOOL!" Cyril roared, silencing Cynder. "If you said anything hurtful to General Icebreath, you say it to me, got it?!"

"Y-y-yes, Cyril." Cynder said, instantly regretting the amount of times she had gotten angry at General Icebreath, who had had the heart to let it go the past few times she'd said hurtful things to him.

"Now, Volteer and Spyro, what did she say to my brother that was so disrespectful?! And if it was indeed disrespectful to the _extreme_ , I will personally force the answers out of her throat!" Cyril threatened.

"First and foremost, she refused to execute the ape when given severe instructions to. Secondly, she called your brother a lunatic, according to the way I overheard General Icebreath shouting while we were trying to find the ape. Thirdly, she used General Icebreath's name _without_ his title, and lastly, she shot a rude and disrespectful glare at General Icebreath behind his back." Volteer explained, noticing Cynder open her mouth and interrupting her before she could say anything. "Don't try to protest, Cynder. I _saw_ that look with my own eyes, and I heard everything you and General Icebreath said. It was hard not to hear that you'd called him a lunatic."

Cyril scrunched up his face in anger, glaring menacingly at Cynder. Cynder noticed that Terrador looked extremely uncomfortable with what he had just heard. "That's… worse than I thought it would be." the earth guardian muttered. "I know you can be sort of dry, angry and mocking sometimes due to what you experienced through your corruption, but that's just taking it too far, Cynder! You know better than that!"

Cynder didn't reply. She looked at Cyril again, who had icy mist bellowing from his nostrils and from in between his clenched fangs, which were bared. "I just… I just don't like him and the way he bosses me around. I can do stuff on my own. I don't need anyone bossing me around, especially someone who I don't know, like 'Li'l Icy'." Cynder said bitterly, using General Icebreath's pet name mockingly, turning the story Cyril told against him. "He's a jerk, thinking I can be pushed around just like all the other dragons! He may be in charge, but I only take orders from myself and my friends, and that means Spyro and you guys!"

"HOW DARE YOU CALL MY BROTHER A JERK?!" Cyril roared, whirling to his feet.

"Oh no. Here we go again." Terrador groaned, bringing a paw to his forehead.

"Much worse, this time." Volteer said with worry in his voice, receiving a worried look from Terrador as he nodded.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK LIKE THAT ABOUT MY BROTHER! HOW COULD YOU?!" Cyril roared, stamping his paw on the ground, unintentionally causing a spike of ice to shoot out of the ground around the paw. "YOU ARE SHOWING WAY TOO MUCH DISRESPECT TO ME AND MY BROTHER, AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!"

Cyril rushed forward, but was stopped as Terrador rushed in front of him, stopping his attack. Cynder had rushed to her feet, but only as a sign of defence, the stress getting too much for her. "Now's not the time, Cyril." Terrador said calmly.

"But she… she… she _insulted_ my brother! My _younger_ brother! I don't know _how long_ this disrespect towards him has been going on, but I can't let it go on for any longer!" Cyril snarled, trying to rush forward again but only to be intercepted as Terrador grabbed a firm hold of Cyril, holding him back. "We _accepted_ you, Cynder, because of Spyro's judgement and will! I was the one who strongly disliked the idea, and my judgement was right! You just mock us and call us names! All you do is hurt us, just like you did in your corruption!"

"Sit down, Cyril. Cynder can explain why she doesn't like your brother. Maybe there's a bigger reason. There always is." Terrador said soothingly, but his efforts to calm Cyril failed.

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" Cyril screamed. "JUST GET OUT OF HERE, CYNDER! JUST GO!"

Cynder stumbled backwards in shock, tears threatening to pour out of her eyes. She looked at Spyro, who had a hard, dry expression on his face as he looked at both Cynder and Cyril. Cyril let out another flustered, frustrated yell, causing Cynder to yell in fear as she turned, bursting through the large doors and running out of the Warfang Temple.

Volteer looked at Spyro with a shocked expression on his face, his lips pursed together and eyes wide. "That escalated quickly." Volteer stammered, speaking quickly as he shut his mouth.

Spyro rolled his eyes and groaned. "I'll go find her." Spyro groaned, standing up and walking out of the Warfang Temple, Cyril's screams and protests fading away as he walked out of the large marble building.

* * *

 **Cynder may have taken things a bit too far, hasn't she? And General Icebreath is actually Cyril's brother. Not sure if any of you were expecting that!**

 **Also, I've actually just recently finished two chapters, so expect to see another chapter up a bit sooner than normal. The chapters I've written have been slightly shorter than normal as well, though, so that's why they were a bit shorter than normal.**

 **We'll join Aaron again in the next chapter, so look forward to that. A new character's going to be introduced as well.**


	9. Chapter 8: Tested

**I figured I might upload Chapter 8 now because why not?**

 **Well we're back with Aaron again, and we get to find out who shot the arrow at the end of Chapter 6. But it's another filler, so it may be slightly more boring than usual. Most of the scenes with Aaron may be more of a boring-filler type instead of action, although there will be plenty of action sequences with Aaron, and there's a huge one later down the track.**

 **Anyway, here's Chapter 8!**

* * *

"Who's there?" Aaron asked, whirling around.

"It's none of your business." a voice said as a cloaked figure stepped out of the thick tree cover on the top of the ledge that hung over the ditch. "But I do have one question for you: How did you come back?"

"What do you mean? I've never been here before!" Aaron said, shrugging as he gave the cloaked figure a confused look. "This is only my third day here in the Dragon Realms!"

"Oh, really, ape?" the creature asked. "I want to know why you look just like those ghastly apes despite saying you've never been here before now. I want to know how the apes returned back to normal after the curse was put onto them by Malefor!"

"I can only answer your first question because on my world, according to some people, us humans evolved from primates, although I don't particularly think that's true for many reasons. And to answer your second question, I have no idea what you're talking about, except for the fact that I have heard of this 'Malefor' dragon from a few other dragons in Warfang, and if he's dead, then the curse would most likely have lifted. That's just speculation, of course." Aaron explained.

"You speak too much for an ape." the creature scoffed. "You remind me too much of that chatterbox Volteer."

"Wait, you know him?" Aaron asked.

"Of course I do." the creature said, taking his hood off and revealing a feline face resembling a cheetah.

Aaron gasped. Even more specifically than a cheetah, the cloaked figure was in fact _Hunter_ , the very cheetah that had accompanied Spyro and Cynder on their journey to Warfang in _Dawn of the Dragon_. The yellow cheetah had a stern look on his face as he glared down to look at Aaron. "So, you're not an ape?" Hunter asked.

"No. No I'm not." Aaron explained.

"How can you prove it?" Hunter questioned, lowering his bow.

"Um… well… really the only thing that comes to my mind is archery. I've heard stories that apes have always been bad at using a bow." Aaron stammered, shrugging.

Hunter looked at his bow as concern clouded his expression. He looked at Aaron and back at the bow several times, before taking in a deep breath and groaning. "You better make sure you be careful with this bow, okay? This is special. It was a gift from my father." Hunter explained.

"Yes, I promise." Aaron said.

Hunter leapt off the high ground, landing in the ditch next to Aaron. He handed Aaron the glossy, wooden bow and his quiver, which had about a dozen arrows in it. "I'll give you three arrows to shoot anything you can." Hunter said sternly, taking out nine of the arrows from the quiver, leaving only three inside it. "I'll determine by your skills whether you're an ape or not."

"Challenge accepted." Aaron said, a grin making its way across his face.

Aaron took his bag off and plopped it on the floor, before grabbing the bow and putting it around his shoulder. He climbed up the rock face that was about two or three metres high, which Aaron only just realised made the ditch quite deep into the ground. He groaned as he pulled his body over the edge, getting up and gasping as Hunter landed beside him as he leapt up the rock face. "Wh-wh-what are you doing?" Aaron stammered.

"Supervision, of course. I need to _see_ your skills, young ape. I need to know whether you actually did use the bow or if you chased the prey down using your arrows like a spear." Hunter deadpanned.

Aaron rolled his eyes as he began to walk forward, looking around as he tried to find something small moving about in the forest. It was disorientating having Hunter following behind him, the second set of footsteps messing with his head. After about two minutes of having no luck finding anything, there was a loud snap, followed by a heavy rustling sound. Aaron whipped his head to the left, where there was a rabbit peeking out of the bushes, nose twitching and wet eyes staring in his direction. "Shoot in your own time." Hunter whispered.

Aaron put an arrow on the drawstring, pulling the drawstring back and aiming. He tried to remember back to his high school years when he did archery through the school. Surprisingly, given how terrible at athletic activities he was, he was the best of the class, and got plenty of bullseyes. Yet he didn't enjoy it, and as soon as he stopped doing archery, he never returned to it. Correcting his aim, he released his hold on the drawstring, sending the deadly arrow firing towards the rabbit. The rabbit saw the arrow coming, and tried to leap out of the way, but was too late. The arrow headed straight for its head, but as it leapt into the air, the momentum from its leap sent the arrow slicing through the rabbit's chest. The rabbit let out a shriek as it fell to the ground, writhing on the ground before going limp and lifeless. Hunter ran forward towards the rabbit and checked to see if there were any signs of it still being alive. Aaron noticed Hunter's eyes widening, and he wondered if he had actually landed a killing shot on the rabbit. Hunter nodded. "That was a fluke. It's dead, but I think it was a fluke. Go again." Hunter scoffed, standing up and picking up the dead rabbit, plucking out the bloodied arrow and wedging it into his belt.

Aaron looked at Hunter as the cheetah stood up, slinging the dead rabbit over his shoulder. Suddenly, Aaron and Hunter froze as another rustling was heard. "This is your lucky day." Hunter groaned. "I never have days like this."

Aaron turned to look at where the rustling came from. There was another rabbit. It was a brown rabbit, as opposed to the white one that Aaron had just shot down. Aaron did the same thing he did with the other rabbit. He put the arrow to the drawstring and pulled it back, adjusting his aim, and releasing. There was a shriek, just like the white rabbit's, and soon enough, the brown rabbit was sprawled on the ground, an arrow in its back as it lay on the ground, not moving. "One more." Hunter groaned, pulling out the arrow and putting it with the other arrow he had wedged into his belt, slinging the brown rabbit over his shoulder as well. "You have one arrow left. If you get another kill, then I _might_ believe you."

"Alright, then. Thanks, Hunter." Aaron said.

Another rustling sound. Hunter squeezed his lips together in shock. His expression spoke enough words for Aaron to realise what he was thinking. _Another one?_

Aaron turned towards the sound, pulling out the arrow and pulling back the drawstring of the bow. Sweat covered his hands, and he felt the glossy wooden bow slipping out from his grip as the sweat dampened the wood, making it slippery. Aaron concentrated as hard as he could, and then released the drawstring as the arrow sailed through the air at the grey rabbit standing up in the distance. The rabbit's body tensed as if it was about to move, but before the rabbit could make the action, the arrow slammed into the rabbit's head, causing it to flop lifelessly on the ground. "And that's three. Congratulations." Hunter said, walking forward and grabbing the arrow and rabbit. Aaron could tell that Hunter was secretly unhappy about Aaron's success.

"Thanks." Aaron said.

Hunter put the three blood-tipped arrows into the quiver on Aaron's back and he carried the three rabbits on his shoulder. "Well, at least we've got dinner." the cheetah said.

"Dinner? Oh, gosh. I haven't had anything proper to eat in two days. This'll be a good refill." Aaron said, smiling and wiping sweat off his forehead as he put the bow back around his shoulder.

Hunter stifled a laugh as he turned and walked back to the ditch, Aaron following close behind. "It'll be getting dark soon." Aaron said, looking up at the sky which was bright orange as the sun was setting.

"I must congratulate you, though. You killed three rabbits first try. I'm surprised; you did well for an ape." Hunter said, chuckling.

"Because I'm not an ape." Aaron said, shrugging. "I'm a human. And if you ever want to use it, my name's Aaron."

"Aaron… got it." Hunter said.

There was silence between the two as they walked back to the ditch, the grass crumpling under their feet. When they got back to the ditch, Aaron gave Hunter his bow and quiver back, and Hunter cleaned the arrows before setting up a fire for warmth and to cook the rabbit meat on. Aaron had a quick sip of water from the lake, wanting to keep the water in his water bottle in case he was separated from the water source. As the sun set, Aaron helped Hunter cut up and cook the rabbits, and when they finished a couple hours after the moon had risen, they began to chow down on the fresh rabbit meat. Aaron felt good being able to fit in a good meal in the Dragon Realms. There were almost no options in Warfang. He supposed the dragons would either get berries or occasionally go out on small hunting sprees to get food. Or perhaps the dragons could go for a long time without eating. Aaron didn't know, and he let his thoughts trail away as he finished his first rabbit. He looked at Hunter, who had also finished his rabbit. "Go ahead." Hunter said, gesturing to the last hunk of rabbit meat that was hanging over the open flame. "I only really need one anyway. You must've been starved in Warfang. The dragons probably would have locked you up if they thought you were an ape."

"Yeah, they did." Aaron explained with a half-hearted chuckle. "They did not take it well _at all_. Especially General Icebreath. He was very bitter about it."

"Ah, Cyril's brother." Hunter said, nodding. "He's bitter about everything. Much like the ice guardian. Probably even more so."

"Wait, what did you say?" Aaron asked.

"General Icebreath is Cyril's brother. General Icebreath struggled a fair bit in life, especially being the youngest. Cyril was the eldest. There was another in the middle. He used to pick on General Icebreath and gave him a hard time. He apparently was small for his age and quite weak with his element." Hunter explained. "Cyril strived to help General Icebreath, but after being picked on so much during training classes with the guardians at the time, which are probably the Warfang elders by now, General Icebreath shut his family out and became incredibly cold-hearted towards everyone. He had a growth spurt and learned to use his element well, but that cold-heartedness he had developed stayed with him. It was fitting for a guard, of course, and General Icebreath had an interest in that sort of thing, so became a guard. When he became the highest rank of his class, everyone who once picked on him suddenly had a knew respect for him. But General Icebreath still took it emotionlessly. He didn't feel forgiveness or happiness of any sort. He just stared at them and left."

"Whoa. That's… that's intense." Aaron said.

"Well that's all I know about it." Hunter said. "Just don't speak of it to Cyril or the General. They won't be happy."

"I'll keep my mouth shut." Aaron said. "It's just that… his story reminds him of mine."

"Yours? How?" Hunter asked.

"Back on earth… in… my world, I never fit in. I was bullied, picked on and beaten up just for being… different. I was weak. Almost every day I came home bruised and battered. Sometimes I was beaten during a disagreement or accidentally in a sport lesson. Sometimes it was for no reason at all." Aaron explained.

Hunter looked at Aaron with a sorry expression on his face. That was the first time that Aaron had seen Hunter with an expression of pity since he met the cheetah. "I'm sorry." Hunter said, before his eyes looked down at Aaron's legs.

"Uh, yeah. My legs." Aaron groaned. "I came here with them bruised badly, but I may have worsened them since I got here."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Aaron broke it as his mouth opened in a large yawn. "I'm tired. I'm going to head off to sleep." Aaron said.

Aaron and Hunter lay back in the grass. "Hey, before you fall asleep. Just two questions." Hunter said.

"Yeah?" Aaron said, interested to hear.

"How are you so good with a bow? You have great potential with one."

"Archery lessons at school. I was always the best in my class, getting a bullseye most of the time. Although I was good at it, I was never interested in it, so I never got back into it. I guess it's just natural skill. Some people have that in some areas." Aaron said with a shrug.

"Interesting… As I said earlier, I think you have potential with a bow. I've always wanted to have an apprentice but no one ever wanted me to be theirs back in the Cheetah Village because I had worked with dragons, and most of the cheetahs still had distrust in the dragons despite Spyro and Cynder saving our village. I'd like to ask if… if _you'd_ like to be my apprentice." Hunter said.

Aaron's eyes widened. "Your… apprentice?" Aaron asked before thinking and replying. "It'd be an honour. But wouldn't the cheetahs think it be strange? That you have a non-cheetah as an apprentice? Even more so, one that looks like an ape? That'd make your situation even worse."

"Yeah. That's one problem. I don't know how they'll react, especially Chief Prowlus. He and I have a bit of a rivalry, and Prowlus is quick to jump to conclusions. He chained Spyro and Cynder up when I brought them to the Cheetah Village two years ago, and even worse, he chained _me_ up." Hunter said. "Saying that, I can't guarantee that no nasty words will be flown at your direction, Aaron. We may even get chained up. I don't know."

"Eh, I'm used to rejection." Aaron said before rolling over and closing his eyes.

* * *

 **So it was Hunter that shot the arrow in Chapter 6. 'LoNeWoLf' guessed correctly (they were probably the only one to voice it properly in a review), but it was fairly obvious anyway. It's not like there were many cheetahs to pick from anyway.**

 **So saying that, expect to see a lot more of Hunter, with the whole apprentice thing now. And expect plenty more cheetahs. A few more OCs will come into play, especially since there were only four named cheetahs in** ** _Dawn of the Dragon_** **(Hunter, Prowlus and Meadow and the Hermit), so it's probably time to create some new characters. A few extra dragon characters will be created as well, as Spyro, Cynder, Malefor and the guardians were the only ones in** ** _The Legend of Spyro_** **.**

 **Well, I guess I'll see you next chapter. Next chapter's a dragon chapter.**


	10. Chapter 9: Adaptation

**A little bit more dragon scenes in these next few chapters. This one, as well as the next four, will revolve around the dragons, so there'll be a little bit less Aaron and Hunter for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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"I thought I might find you here, Cynder." Spyro said, opening the door to her room. "At least by night, anyway. I've been searching all over for you."

"Oh, hi, Spyro. I just went out on a flight to calm myself down. Why were you looking for me?" Cynder asked.

Spyro walked towards Cynder, closing the door behind him. "Because when you left, I knew something was wrong." Spyro said. "Would you care to explain what's going on?"

"I just… I've never seen Cyril that angry before. Honestly, it scared me. It reminded me of Gaul. When I would come back with news of an unsuccessful siege, he would get real riled up and would attack me." Cynder explained. "It just reminded me too much of that. And now I realise I must have hit a bigger nerve on Cyril than I thought."

"You _did_ insult his brother, Cynder." Spyro clarified. "Of course it was going to hit a big nerve. Especially as it's _Cyril_ we're talking about."

Cynder didn't move from her spot on the ground in her room. She had her back facing Spyro as she sat down at the window of her room, staring out at the moonlit, starry sky. She heard Spyro walking closer to her as the purple dragon sat down next to her. Spyro looked at Cynder, and the action turned Cynder's gaze off the sky and onto Spyro. Her tear-stricken face made Spyro's face fall. "Can you explain to me why you don't like General Icebreath?" Spyro asked. "It may help the situation a bit better. It might even make Cyril understand a bit more. Knowing Cyril, he's most likely going to hold what you said to him against you until he knows what you _really_ think of his brother."

"I just… don't like the way he talks to me and pushes me around. I know he's a guard and all that, but… I was pushed around by Gaul so much, I just want freedom. Whenever something comes up, General Icebreath is _always_ on the scene, jumping into action and barking out orders like nobody's business." Cynder explained. "I can't feel free with all that, and he just expects others to do whatever he says without a second thought. I mean, I get why it's expected that people obey the guardians. They're the _guardians_ for crying out loud! But Icebr… _General_ Icebreath… he acts like he's a guardian himself! He's nothing more than a guard!"

"He's probably looking up to his older brother, Cynder. Plus, I have heard that General Icebreath had a difficult childhood. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he's hard." Spyro explained.

"He's harder than Cyril. But… now that you put it that way, it makes sense." Cynder said, sniffling and turning her gaze back out to the night sky. "I just… don't like the way he talks down to me. I mean… we saved the world! _You_ put the world back together! General Icebreath wouldn't be able to do that! And yet he orders you around like you're some random old citizen of Warfang! Me as well!"

"I obey him because it's the right thing to do! While we've been in intense fights, he has better judgement than us. He's much, much older than we are. He sort of has the authority to order us around. I know you don't like it, but… sometimes people are just… different."

"And the way he spoke to me when I didn't want to kill the ape. It was extremely harsh. I tried explaining that I didn't want to do it in front of many other dragons, but he wouldn't listen. General Icebreath just seemed to not heed anything I was wanting to say."

"He probably still doesn't trust you, for reasons I think you know about. I think you two just need to learn to put up with each other and trust each other. Maybe if General Icebreath learned to be a bit more open to suggestions, then that might help. But I doubt it given what he went through as a child. He made himself so icy towards people because of it." Spyro explained. "Just give him a chance, and he might give you a chance. Who knows? You two could learn to put all this disagreeing behind you and start _agreeing_ on things."

Cynder nodded, and Spyro stood up and left. "I'll leave you to yourself now. Goodnight, Cynder." Spyro said.

Cynder muttered a reply, hearing Spyro's clacking claws fade and the door shut behind the purple dragon. _He doesn't understand. He won't understand._ Cynder thought, tears welling up in her eyes. _How am I going to be able to tell him? General Icebreath will just… ignore me like he always has._

Cynder groaned as she laid down on the ground, closing her eyes slowly as she tried to fall asleep. But she was worried. She was worried about Aaron's wellbeing and if he was doing okay. Truth is, when she had left the Warfang Temple, she'd gone out to find Aaron, but had no luck. She had been extremely worried about Aaron, and she struggled to fall asleep as her fear for Aaron kept her awake. Cynder kept trying to close her eyes, but just as her eyelids were about to close, they snapped open again.

After about ten minutes of Cynder failing to fall asleep, which was odd because dragons fell asleep very quickly, usually within a minute or so, Cynder groaned and stood up, opening the door and walking out of the large building that she lived in. It was like a pair of apartments stacked on top of each other, reserved for the heroes of the world. Cynder lived in the top unit and Spyro in the bottom. As Cynder slowly walked down into Spyro's apartment so she could leave, stepping as quietly as possible, she let out a gasp when she heard a loud snoring sound coming from Spyro's direction. Cynder slowed her breathing and rolled her eyes. _He's fallen asleep on the couch._ she thought. _Boys._

Cynder slowly opened the door and walked out, closing it silently behind her. She leapt into the air and caught the wind in her wings as she flew up high. Normally she would have leapt out of her own apartment, but there was nowhere in her apartment to take off, and Spyro's apartment was at the bottom with the door. She wasn't sure why it was built that way. Maybe the moles forgot while they were building the two-storey building, or maybe it was as a joke, taking the fact that the two dragons did have a thing for each other a bit too far. While it did feel off creeping through Spyro's apartment like that, Cynder needed to get out. Her body wouldn't allow her to rest until she found Aaron.

She had known that the night before Aaron had left Warfang by climbing up over the large wall. It unmistakably broadened her search. But surely he can't have gone far in one day, so Cynder searched as deep in the forest as she expected Aaron to go within a day. But after twenty minutes of looking around, her eyes began to close. _No, not now. I can't fall asleep now. I need to find Aaron._ Cynder thought frantically, trying to keep her eyes from shutting.

Her efforts to stop her eyes closing failed, and Cynder groaned as her eyelids snapped shut and Cynder fell asleep in the sky. Her wings contracted, causing her to fall to the ground. Normally, the impact would have woken her up, but the impact instead caused her to fall unconscious as she hit her head hard on the ground.

Cynder opened her eyes. Bright sunlight flashed through her eyelids, causing her to blink repeatedly to filter the intense brightness out of her eyes. Once she had done that, she stood up, looking around. Walking aimlessly in the forest, Cynder suddenly saw something she wished she hadn't. Blood. The red liquid had stained into the silky green grass, and it put Cynder's heart in her throat. "Aaron! Aaron!" she cried, whirling around frantically and flustered as she hoped Aaron was okay.

Of course, if she had been at that point in time the day before, she would have seen Aaron shoot down a rabbit in that area. The body of the rabbit was long gone, and, thinking the blood was Aaron's, that freaked Cynder out seeing blood and no body lying around. But then she realised that it _could_ mean something good. Aaron had probably walked off or accidentally cut himself as he was running or walking along this path, using the grass to wipe off his wound. The other thought made Cynder shiver. That thought was that he had been attacked, the attacker dragging his body away to some prison or to eat it. The meat on the body that had shed the blood _had_ been eaten, but the body wasn't Aaron's.

Cynder brought her nose down to the bloodied grass and sniffed at it, getting the rotten smell in her nostrils so she could try and track down Aaron. She walked, trying to follow the scent for several minutes, until she lost track of it. The scent of the blood suddenly disappeared, turning into something else, which Cynder didn't know what. Cynder groaned, bringing her head up high and looking around. "Aaron?! Aaron, are you anywhere here?!" Cynder called. "Aaron!"

Her efforts to find Aaron by calling him were useless. She sighed sadly, turning her gaze towards the ground. _If I can't find him, maybe it_ is _the best thing for him, and for us dragons. But… I can't help but worry for him. He's in a new world that he has no idea about._ Cynder thought.

There was a snap followed by loud rustling. A grunt, followed by the sound of a stone rolling downhill was heard. Cynder perked her head up, looking around from where the sound could have come from. She got low and began to creep towards the sound silently; the noises were very loud and could not have been too far away. She kept her head low as she crept forward stealthily. But she stepped on a rock, setting it loose, causing it to roll downwards. Cynder winced as she knew it would alert whoever it was making the sound.

"Hello? Who's there?" a voice asked.

It was a voice Cynder remembered from two years earlier. "Hunter?" Cynder asked, loosening her rigid stance.

Hunter's figure appeared from through the trees, holding a dead rabbit in his hand. Hunter's eyes widened. "Cynder! It's been a while." Hunter said, putting the rabbit over his shoulder and crossing his arms. "Where's Spyro?"

"Back in Warfang. I just… I just needed a little time to get away from him." Cynder explained.

Hunter pulled a face. He knew that Cynder had confessed her love for Spyro just as he was putting the world together, and it confused him when Cynder said that she needed time away from the purple dragon.

"We got into a fight yesterday." Cynder deadpanned. "It's nothing too much, but I sure hope it won't happen again. Things have been happening and Cyril has been getting very mad at me recently."

"Concerning his brother?" Hunter asked.

"Wait, how'd you know he…?" Cynder asked as a shocked expression flooded through her face.

"Stories. Plus, General Icebreath has helped out our village on the _very_ odd occasion. He only does it because we're friends of the purple dragon, of course, but he's accidentally let the word brother slip out of his mouth when talking about Cyril about twice before." Hunter explained.

"I'm back, Hunter. I've got about three rabbits." a voice said as footsteps were heard.

Hunter rushed towards the sound and whispered something to the person, and then that person went silent. Hunter then turned back with an awkward smile on his face. "What was that? Um, _who_ was that? That'd be a better question to ask." Cynder asked the yellow cheetah.

"Just my apprentice. He's a bit wary of dragons and such, so… yeah." Hunter said awkwardly.

"Hunter, you could've told me it was Cynder." the voice came out again, with a touch of a laugh inside the voice.

Cynder gasped in shock as Aaron stepped out of the thick trees and bushed, with his own bow and quiver, and three rabbits were slung around his shoulder. "Wait, _Aaron_?! _He's_ your apprentice?!" Cynder asked. "How did you…?!"

"I gave him a test and… he's pretty good with a bow. Good enough to _not_ be an ape." Hunter said. "So I take it you know Aaron?"

" _Know_ him?! I _rescued_ him from the Warfang prison!" Cynder exclaimed.

Hunter's expression turned to one of shock. "They really _did_ think you were an ape, didn't they?" Hunter asked.

"Did you actually doubt me?" Aaron scoffed, rolling his eyes and chuckling.

"No, but I didn't think it was _that_ bad." Hunter replied, shrugging.

"You were willing to impale my chest onto an arrow, Hunter!" Aaron argued, a hint of a chuckle in his voice.

"So… by any chance do you guys think you'll be dropping in through Warfang?" Cynder asked.

"Hell, no. I want to stay clear of that place as much as possible!" Aaron shouted.

"In fact, we were going to spend a few more days out here before heading out to the Cheetah Village." Hunter explained calmly.

"Really? You're taking _him_ to the _Cheetah Village_?!" Cynder asked with shock.

"His bow skills surpass anything I've ever seen from a non-cheetah. I think the cheetahs will be surprised and most likely believe us due to Aaron's archery skills." Hunter said. "The only _real_ reasoning I have is with Chief Prowlus, but hopefully, given how his judgement was proved wrong with you and Spyro in the Cheetah Village, maybe he might have a chance. I'm not entirely sure about it."

"Fair enough." Cynder said, nodding.

"I'd first of all like to ask a question, Cynder." Aaron said.

"Sure. Go ahead." Cynder replied.

"Well… it may be better if I explained a bit first." Aaron explained.

"Alright, start with the explanation." Cynder said, urging Aaron to begin speaking with a flick of her paw.

"In our world, we have several… legends. These legends include many different stories about many different people and creatures. One of them… one is about you and Spyro." Aaron explained.

"Us? So… you know about us? I thought you said dragons didn't exist in your world." Cynder said as a confused expression filled her face. "Except in myths."

"If you remember in the interrogation, I said that dragons were only mentioned in myths and legends." Aaron said. "So yes, us humans _do_ know about you."

"How much of it do you know?" Cynder asked, fear clutching her heart over what Aaron would understand of her story.

Aaron knew this, but he _had_ to have his question answered, and he'd already started his explanation, so he had to continue it. And he knew that it wouldn't be the best idea to lie, so he spoke the truth. " _The Legend of Spyro_ , as it's called, came in three parts, or chapters. The first…" Aaron said, unsure how to break it to Cynder that he knew of her corruption. "The first part went from when Spyro left the dragonfly village to the point where he… where he freed you."

Cynder winced and made a loud groan. "So you know all the crimes I committed? All the dragons I murdered?" Cynder cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It was only implied, explained implicitly." Aaron said. "It never went into great detail, only the fact that Ignitus only ever mentioned you as a being that struck fear into the Dragon Realms. But… but lucky for you, that was only ever in the first chapter of the Legend."

"O-okay, what was in the second and third chapters?" Cynder asked, even though she knew the answer.

"The second chapter went on throughout the Night of Eternal Darkness until Spyro created the Time Crystal, and the third… the third was… was…" Aaron stammered, not wanting to startle Cynder by the name of Malefor. "The third chapter was set when you were freed from the Time Crystal three years after, and ended just after Spyro put the world back together."

"So you know what Malefor did to us and about Ignitus' death?" Cynder asked.

"Well, uh… yes." Aaron deadpanned, lowering his head. "But my question was, how did you and Spyro get out of the core of the world when he put it back together? It's really bothered me since I finished reading the Legend. It never explained how you escaped. Everybody seemed to assume that you two died, getting crushed when the continents of the world came back together."

"Well… I don't know how to explain it. When Spyro used that energy, a dragon spirit appeared, like the ones that took Malefor. It grabbed us as the world began to close, and Spyro finished using his powers. It took us to the surface, just in time as the world closed again. Spyro collapsed, terribly wounded, and I took him to the nearest inhabited area, which was a little village of moles. Spyro was nursed back to health, and we went back to Warfang to meet up with the Guardians. Sparx apparently had returned to the Swamp to meet up with his parents." Cynder explained.

Aaron nodded. "Okay. That makes quite a fair bit of sense." Aaron said. "Thanks."

Aaron sighed and smiled. _Now I can get that question out of my head. I still have more questions, but now is not the time._ Aaron thought.

"So, are you ready to go to the Cheetah Village now?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah. I sure am." Aaron said, adjusting the rabbits he had caught on his shoulder comfortably.

"I should… probably head back to Warfang. Spyro will be pretty worried." Cynder explained, a nervous smile creeping across her lips.

"Yeah, sure." Aaron said, shrugging.

"Tell me how it goes when we meet again." Cynder said.

"I will. Bye, Cynder." Aaron farewelled.

"Goodbye, Aaron and Hunter." Cynder replied, leaping into the sky and extending her wings as she gained altitude, flying up into the sky.

* * *

 **That last scene with Aaron and Hunter was absolute crap. I did a bit of extra work on it just now in the editing process, but it's still kind of crap. The next few chapters will be much better than this one, I hope. Anyway, until the next chapter, bye!**


	11. Chapter 10: Distrust

**Because I've already written so much of this story, I figured I might give you an extra chapter. We return with Cynder, because why not? Anyway, I hope you enjoy, as always! And if you have any questions, critiques or suggestions to the story, please PM me or leave them in a review. I might not be able to respond properly to the suggestions, since I'm almost finished writing this story, but I might do some tweaks here and there to get some suggestions in there, but other than that, nothing will particularly change in what I've already written so far.**

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Cynder looked around, the bright blue sky rich and cloudless. The green forest below her was lush and vibrant, and as she flew for several minutes high in the sky, she saw the faint silhouettes of the buildings of Warfang in the distance. As she got closer to the Dragon City, Cynder watched as the lush green forest disappeared into flat, green grasslands, before eventually turning into the rocky and slightly sandy city below her. She spotted the Warfang Temple, with Spyro running frantically towards it, and she descended quickly to confront Spyro.

"Hi, Spyro. How are you doing?" Cynder asked, landing on the ground and folding her wings against her back.

"Cynder?! Where _were_ you?! You had me worried sick!" Spyro exclaimed, whirling around to reveal his sweat-cloaked face.

"What, why?" Cynder stammered, unsure why Spyro would be worried.

"I thought the ape must have done something to you! I thought you'd been captured!" Spyro growled.

"I haven't seen the ape since it escaped from the prison. I've just needed to have some fresh air and time to myself. I'm scared. The way you were acting yesterday really worried me."

Spyro scoffed, rolling his eyes. " _You_ , scared?! That's _ridiculous_!" Spyro chuckled, smirking.

Cynder glared angrily at Spyro. Spyro scoffed again and continued speaking, "I've been looking all throughout Warfang for you, Cynder! You could have told me or left a note to tell me you needed time out!" Spyro shouted. "I was _this_ close to telling the guardians!"

Spyro jerked his head in the direction of the Warfang Temple as he spoke the emphasised word. Cynder stifled a laugh. "You're taking things too literally. A bit like that little dragonfly brother of yours." Cynder chuckled.

"Don't even get me started! I haven't been feeling like myself since that _ape_ got into the picture!" Spyro shouted. "EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT BEFORE THAT APE SHOWED UP!"

There was a couple of gasps as many shocked faces from random dragons walking down the street stared at Spyro. Mutters of fear rose up in between them and they struggled not to scream. Cynder groaned as she brought a forepaw to her head, and Spyro let out a grunt as he glared at the crowd with frustration.

"Is he serious?"

"Are the apes back?"

"Are we all going to die?"

"Will there be another war?"

Terrador walked through the doors of the Warfang Temple and coming to Spyro and Cynder's rescue. "Calm down. There are no apes, you all misunderstood what Spyro said." Terrador said gruffly.

"He's right. For all means, we just heard the purple dragon's outburst and didn't even know the context. If anything, he could have been talking about a past event." a teenage electric dragon stated.

There were murmurs that rose up from the crowd, until an earth dragon walked up towards the electric dragon and smiled. "Guys, we all know that Shocker is fairly smart with his decision-making." the earth dragon said, making it seem like everyone should know the electric dragon, named Shocker. "Let's just go our own separate ways and forget what happened."

"Good idea, Stonebrawler." Shocker said, a smile pulling at his face.

Murmurs rose up from the crowd as dragons started to leave. Terrador walked towards Shocker and Stonebrawler, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, you two. I know you're both still quite young, but you really saved us one hell of a problem." Terrador thanked.

"You're welcome, Terrador. Anything for a guardian and the purple dragon of legend." Shocker said, bowing.

"And he has been known as one of, if not _the_ smartest dragon of his age." Stonebrawler replied. "He's very well-known because of that."

"You don't have to rub it in, Stonebrawler."

Cynder scoffed as she caught onto Shocker's previous comment. Just like always, she wasn't mentioned, nor did she have a special title. There were the guardians, and Spyro was the purple dragon of legend, and even the elders had begun to come out of their refuge that the dragons in Warfang had made to keep them safe during the war. And she was just 'Cynder, former Terror of the Skies'. She knew that name would always be something that everybody would hold against her. And now she knew that Aaron knew about it, as well as most of his kind. She shivered at the thought. _Aaron said it was just a legend back where he came from. The rest of them won't think I'm real, nor will they think Spyro's real._ Cynder thought. _It'll all be fine; just take deep breaths._

Her thoughts were interrupted by high-pitched squealing as Stonebrawler struggled to contain his excitement. "Wow! I'm really here! I'm really in the presence of the earth guardian! And even better, Spyro! I'm so excited!" Stonebrawler squealed, surprisingly high since he was an earth dragon, which generally had low, gravelly voices, even for someone of fourteen years old like Stonebrawler.

"Calm down, Stonebrawler. Show some respect at least." Shocker scolded, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, right! Sorry, Shocker! Er, I mean, sorry Terrador and Spyro!" Stonebrawler babbled nervously, bowing down beside his friend. "I guess I am still slightly childish in my behaviour…"

"Come on, there's no need for that." Terrador chuckled. "Just because I'm a guardian, Spyro's the purple dragon and Cynder the one that helped defeat Malefor, doesn't mean we need all that form of royalty."

 _Still doesn't mean we don't appreciate it._ Cynder thought. _I'm still picked on by others because of my past, even though that's very rare now that two years have passed since Malefor was destroyed._

Shocker and Stonebrawler stood upright, smiling at the three dragons standing before them. Shocker then growled in annoyance and brought a forepaw to his face as Stonebrawler started jittering with excitement. "Stonebrawler, calm down!" Shocker scolded before turning to look at Terrador, Spyro and Cynder. "I'm sorry. He's unusually shaky and nervous for an earth dragon."

"That's all okay. We don't like discrimination towards dragons, so we put that all behind us. They're just a dragon all the same." Spyro said.

Cynder felt like Spyro's words were also directed at her. _He's probably got the way I treated Icebreath in his mind._ Cynder thought, before sighing. _He's right. I'm just doing what everybody does to me. Only in a different light. But cruelty comes in all different forms; I should know, being the former Terror of the Skies._

"We should probably go now, Stonebrawler." Shocker chuckled. "Mum and Dad are probably waiting for us."

"Alright! Goodbye, Terrador and Spyro and Cynder!" Stonebrawler called, chasing after Shocker and catching up with his more formal electric dragon companion.

Terrador let out a small chuckle at Stonebrawler's odd behaviour for an earth dragon, but then shook his head as his expression went emotionless again, turning to Spyro. "Spyro, how could you do that? You _know_ we told everybody not to speak of the ape in public, and you _literally_ just shoved it in _everyone's_ faces!" Terrador growled.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! I've been really stressed recently, that's all! I just…!" Spyro stammered.

"Stop _right_ there, young dragon! I know you're still quite young at eighteen years old, but you need to be more disciplined and more considerate of your surroundings!" Terrador scolded. "You need to learn to supress your anger in specific environments where outbursts of anger could be incredibly harmful, just like your accidental slip!"

"I'm sorry, but you guardians are angry quite often, right?" Spyro asked. "And what about Cyril? He's always…"

"Shut your mouth, Spyro and come inside! We'll deal with this _alone_!"

Cynder's eyes widened. She hadn't seen Terrador angry so often, and he had just had two outbursts of anger within the past forty-eight hours. It seemed that everyone was stressing out with Aaron's appearance. She shivered as she wondered how the cheetahs would react when Aaron and Hunter got to the Cheetah Village in Avalar. While Cynder knew it was two or three days away from the place where she found Aaron and Hunter earlier that morning, she still knew that it wouldn't be long before Aaron was in the presence of strangers; ones that would criticise and judge him because he looked like an ape. Cynder _knew_ he wasn't one. He didn't have the cruel heart of an ape, and he was very kind. He wasn't covered head to toe in fur, and his eyes were a beautiful brown, unlike the ugly pale eyes that the apes had. Aaron's shoulders weren't large and broad like the apes' were, and he didn't have a long snout. He was very different compared to the apes, and she hated herself for starting out with such bitterness towards Aaron. But she still understood why everyone thought he was an ape. He was bipedal, and did hold a few resemblances to the apes, although not much. Still, it was enough to convince even her that he was an ape at the start of all of this.

Cynder would have followed Terrador and Spyro inside, but she wouldn't dare eavesdrop on them, especially when Terrador was this upset. Terrador was hardly ever angry, but when he was, _nobody_ wanted to mess with him, not even Volteer or Cyril. Terrador wasn't known for his anger issues, but when he was angry, he would become _very_ aggressive and stubborn, not that he wasn't already stubborn. Cynder turned and walked away from the Warfang Temple. She decided she needed to be with a close friend, but Spyro was already taken away from her as Terrador needed to speak with him. Cynder didn't have many other friends that was available. She didn't have many friends in general. Many dragons were still very cautious around Cynder.

So Cynder decided to have a calm walk around Warfang to calm herself down, even though often, her occasional walks weren't very calming to her as other dragons who hated her would get in her way and say harmful and rude things to her. But she decided to do it anyway. There was nothing much else to do.

It was the middle of the day, however, meaning that it was the busiest time for the streets of Warfang, which were swarming with dragons. She looked ahead as she took a long walk throughout Warfang, twisting and turning throughout the maze of streets as she walked for quite a long time. She completely lost track of time. Not looking at the angry glares that other dragons sent her, Cynder kept her mind on other things. She thought of how she could make up to General Icebreath for everything she had said about him recently. She hadn't seen Cyril since the day before when he revealed that General Icebreath was his brother, but she knew that he would still be incredibly mad at her. She let Spyro's comforting words sink into her mind as she thought of the most important parts of what Spyro had had to say that night.

 _He's probably looking up to his older brother, Cynder. Plus, I have heard that General Icebreath had a difficult childhood. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he's hard._

 _He has better judgement than us. He's much, much older than we are._

 _He probably still doesn't trust you, for reasons I think you know about. I think you two just need to learn to put up with each other and trust each other. Maybe if General Icebreath learned to be a bit more open to suggestions, then that might help. Just give him a chance, and he might give you a chance._

Cynder looked down at her paws as they moved forward along the ground, thinking hard on Spyro's last sentence. _Give him a chance… and he might give me a chance…_ Cynder thought. _Oh, Spyro, I hope you're right about this._

And that was the moment that Cynder had one of the craziest ideas she had ever had. She knew where General Icebreath lived, and she knew she had to apologise and start again with him, and since the sun was starting to disappear over the horizon, perhaps she might make it to General Icebreath's home by the time he made it there after his work ended. After all, his house was closer to the prison than where Cynder was in the complete opposite side of the massive Dragon City.

About ten minutes had passed since the moon had risen and the sky had gone dark, and Cynder had finally made it to General Icebreath's house. She raised her paw to knock on the front door, then froze. _What if he freaks out and gets angry at me? What if he attacks me?_ Cynder thought. _What if he isn't even home? Oh, ancestors, this is so awkward._

Cynder turned and ran down the street, giving her a little more time to think things through. The streets of Warfang quickly emptied, and Cynder walked for thirty minutes around the empty streets of Warfang. She turned and headed back to General Icebreath's house, giving herself a mental pep talk as she walked.

 _You'll be alright, Cynder. It'll be fine. Just… be kind and… genuine about it. Let him know that you want to fix everything you've said about him._ Cynder thought. _You'll do amazing. I just hope that he listens to me and doesn't do what he's well known for. Getting angry._

Cynder made it back to General Icebreath's house, and she stared at the wooden door, which had light shining through the holes between the slabs of wood that made up the door, indicating that whoever was inside was still awake. Cynder swallowed hard. She knew she was nervous. _Way_ too nervous. She knew that showing nerves wouldn't be beneficial for this attempt to make a friendship. She allowed Spyro's words to fill her head again, and when they disappeared, she lifted her paw, and moved it forward.

She knocked on the door, wincing when footsteps were heard. The door opened.

* * *

 **Oooh, cliffhanger! What's going to happen when General Icebreath sees Cynder at his door? You'll have to wait a bit for that because next chapter we're going to see how Spyro's doing with Terrador. I guess I'm kinda mean that way…**


	12. Chapter 11: Outburst

**A bit of a shorter chapter (shortest so far), but things go kind of crazy in this chapter.**

 **I want to respond to a guest by the name of 'Derick Lindsey' and apologise to say that I may have accidentally forgotten Sparx completely in this story, in all of the forty-four chapters I've already written for this story. I might try and incorporate the little dragonfly in there somewhere, as there's still room for him, but not as much as there could have been. Even still, if I do decide to add Sparx into the story, it won't be for a long time. And don't worry, Spyro will get into trouble for his judgement on Aaron, but there's still a lot of story to go, and that won't come for a while. Although, Spyro's just come out of a harsh talking-to with Terrador that was mentioned in the last chapter, so he's in a little smidge of trouble. Not as much as he will be, though. (trying so hard not to spoil anything)**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

"Thank you, Spyro for cooperating. I hope you do not do that again or there _will_ be consequences." Terrador said sternly, stopping and opening the door of the Warfang Temple for said purple dragon.

"Alright, alright! I got that the third time you said it, Terrador!" Spyro groaned, rolling his eyes and walking out of the Warfang Temple.

"You know I don't approve of sarcasm, Spyro!" Terrador growled, his face going a bright red colour.

Spyro came to a halt and turned around, his face filled with a mixed expression of frustration and awkwardness. He shrugged, a crude expression on his face. "Fine, I'm sorry!" Spyro muttered bitterly, looking down at his paws.

"I beg your pardon!" Terrador shouted, highly offended by the bitterness Spyro had directed at the him.

"Oh, didn't you hear me because you've got dirt in your ears?" Spyro asked mockingly before raising his voice into a shout. "I said, 'I'm sorry!'"

"Say it like you mean it!" Terrador thundered. "And look me in the eye!"

Spyro turned his gaze up at Terrador in an angry glare, his violet eyes burning with rage. "Sorry, Terrador." Spyro apologised, somehow making it sound legitimate through his anger and frustration.

"Thank you." Terrador said. "Now get out. I need some time to calm down."

"Yeah, you sure need it, Mr Grumpy." Spyro muttered as he turned around and walked away from the Warfang Temple.

" _Spyro_!" Terrador shouted through gritted fangs.

"Sorry!" Spyro said, before muttering quietly to himself, "Not…"

Terrador growled with frustration and slammed the door shut, the sound of the slam reverberating in the marble foyer of the Warfang Temple to be greeted by worried faces of the other guardians who hadn't dared interfered with Terrador and Spyro's conversation, especially when Terrador was as angry as he was. "Whoa, Terrador, are you alright? You're hardly ever this mad." Cyril said, eyes widened.

"Spyro was just _really_ getting on my nerves! I've never seen this much sarcasm come from him!" Terrador exclaimed.

"If Ignitus was here, I'm confident that he'd be taking all the antagonism and shouting differently than we are. I contemplate that Spyro would be capable of managing it excessively and unquestionably better if our fiery colleague was here." Volteer stated, babbling on with large words as he always did. "After all, Spyro bonded furthermost with Ignitus, and particularly a lot sturdier than he did us."

"Shut up, dictionary breath." Terrador groaned.

"While I hate to agree with ol' motor mouth here, Volteer's right. I think Spyro would fare a lot better if Ignitus was here." Cyril added.

"But we all know why that can't happen." Terrador said solemnly, his expression changing to one of anger to one of sorrow as he looked over at the statue of Ignitus, walking towards it.

"Oh, Terrador. He's departed. We've just got to learn to accept it and admit that there was unquestionably nothing we could do to save him. Ignitus perished upon his own judgement and decision." Volteer said calmly.

"But it's been two years, Volteer. I miss him. When Spyro broke it to us that Ignitus was… was gone. I felt like I'd lost a brother." Terrador explained, his gravelly voice going weak.

"Oh, come on, Terrador!" Cyril said impatiently. "No need for the tears! You've still got us, and we have a job to do, especially with the elders beginning to come back _and_ an ape on the loose!"

"Now just shut it!" Terrador yelled. "Just because you still have a brother doesn't mean that we have to be emotionless about Ignitus' death like you are, you icy soul!"

" _Emotionless_?! What in the ancestors' names are you talking about, Terrador?!" Cyril snapped.

"You have a perfectly good understanding of what Terrador means, Cyril! When Spyro stated the update, you _scarcely_ responded!" Volteer shouted. "I have no acknowledgement or understanding of _why_ , the one thing I am able to comprehend is that you didn't seem impacted by the newsflash _one bit_!"

"Calm down, motor mouth!" Cyril roused.

"JUST SHUT IT, CYRIL!" Terrador roared, causing Cyril to snap his jaws shut as his teeth clopped together.

Terrador looked at the shocked faces of Volteer and Cyril with rage burning in his eyes as he breathed heavily. He calmed down a little bit as to not let his next few sentences come in large outbursts of raging shouts, but Terrador wanted very badly to throw an Earth Missile at Cyril's face.

"If you don't remember, Ignitus was our leader! Even more than that, our brother! Not our blood brother of course, but he was like one all the same! Volteer and I never knew what it felt like to have siblings; we were the only children in our respective families! Losing Ignitus was hard for both of us, but I think I had more of a bond with Ignitus as I spent the most time with him! You two just stood around bickering uselessly instead of trying to put differences aside and spending time with 'family'!" Terrador growled. "I don't know what's going on but everyone is changing! Cynder seems distant, Volteer is sometimes at a loss for words, Spyro is mocking and acting nastily, I am completely _losing the plot_ and Cyril is being a _complete dork_!"

"HEY, YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Cyril roared. "I'M STILL TRYING TO GET OVER WHAT CYNDER SAID ABOUT MY BROTHER!"

"Do you _see_ what I mean, Volteer?! He's way more agitated than he used to be, and is almost _always_ bitter! To _everyone_! It used to only be towards _you_ , Volteer, but now he's even getting angry at me! Cynder I get, especially given the circumstances of what happened, but _me_?!" Terrador exclaimed.

Volteer opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as Cyril let out another shout as he continued to argue with Terrador. "YOU CALLED ME A DORK, YOU RUBBLEBRAIN!" Cyril shouted.

"I'LL SHOW YOU _RUBBLE_!" Terrador roared, and before anyone could react, the marble halls were filled with dust as the bass of the loud explosion reverberated through the Warfang Temple's foyer.

When the dust settled, Volteer gasped to see Cyril on the ground unconscious, blood drizzling slowly from his head as small fragments of an earth missile lay all over his body. His face was bruised and his body had gone dull as a layer of dust settled on top of the large cyan dragon's bulk. Volteer looked to Terrador with a look of horror in his eyes. Terrador could sense the fear in Volteer's eyes, and his face fell. Terrador looked down at Cyril and gasped with terror as he realised what he had done. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, I-I-I d-didn't m-mean to do th-th-that. I-I-I-I d-d-don't know wh-what c-c-c-came over m-me." Terrador spluttered as he shook his head and stepped backwards from the unconscious body of the ice guardian that Terrador had just knocked to the ground.

Volteer looked like he didn't know what to say. For once, the electric guardian, who had been called many names to do with his overuse of large words and the fact that he babbles on most of the time, was speechless and unable to speak, completely stripped of his voice as he had no idea how to comprehend the sheer unexpectedness of what had just happened. Volteer opened his mouth many times, but closed it every time as his words wouldn't come out of his mouth. Normally, it would have been a good thing to know that Volteer had the words ripped right out of his voice box, but now it was excruciating and painful, and it was too much for Terrador to handle.

Terrador looked at Cyril one last time before spluttering in fear and running off down one of the corridors to where his own room was. Volteer looked at the bloodied, bruised and dusty form of Cyril that lay unconscious on the ground, and _almost_ felt the need to apologise. Volteer realised now how stupid the fighting looked. Even though Terrador and Cyril's argument was a lot more intense and serious than the arguments between himself and Cyril, it looked pretty embarrassing, particularly for dragons of their age and authority. Volteer didn't like Cyril any more than Cyril liked him, which wasn't very much, yet they did put up with each other when the situations called for it, but they fought almost all the time. Volteer realised it needed to stop. While he couldn't change Cyril's perspective of things, he could most certainly change _his_ , and he decided that he would try his best not to get in arguments with the ice guardian.

But still, Cyril needed help, and fast. Volteer didn't know how much damage the earth missile had done. Damage was evident on the bloody cuts on Cyril's face, but the earth missile had walloped Cyril right in the head. Volteer didn't know how much harm that would have caused. While he knew that a couple of red gems could help Cyril come back to full health, he needed to make sure it wasn't too serious, so he burst out of the doors of the Warfang Temple into the sunset as he raced to find some of the mole healers.


	13. Chapter 12: Concerns

**In response to 'GhostChris' (yes, I'm going straight into responding to reviews and messages this time around), I wanted this story to be something a little different. Making the main characters of** ** _Legend of Spyro_** **so aggressive towards each other, especially the guardians, was something a little different that I thought would be interesting. I hope you're enjoying the change. As for if they'll become more accepting of Aaron, you'll have to wait and see. But someone's opinion on things will change in about five chapters' time. I'm not going to say who that someone** ** _is_** **, though.**

 **And I'm glad 'LoNeWoLf' enjoyed what happened to Cyril. They weren't particularly too happy at how Cyril was talking to Cynder in Chapter 7, and I guess it is** ** _kind of_** **like a revenge? Anyway, a lot more arguments and violence will come out in later chapters, especially the next one.**

 **And a user by the name of 'darklighteryphon' contacted me on DeviantArt asking a few questions, generally on who the story was based around and why Spyro is so judgemental in this story. The story is based mainly around Aaron and his supporters, so at this point in time, Cynder and Hunter, but more characters will be added to that list in the future. As for Spyro, he's not being judgemental for the sake of being judgemental. The real reasons will be revealed later, but there's something bigger in play right now with Spyro.**

 **Anyway, we get back to Cynder's confrontation with General Icebreath, so let's-a go!**

* * *

"Well, if it isn't Cynder, the mockery queen?" General Icebreath asked, a stern look on his face. "Cyril told me about that Li'l Icy statement you made yesterday. I am not impressed."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just want to apologise and start over. Maybe we could form a friendship, or even just a bond where we can at least trust each other." Cynder asked, her body shaking in the presence of General Icebreath, even without his armour on.

General Icebreath scoffed. "Fine, come in." he scowled.

He turned and Cynder followed him. She turned her head and saw two dragons sitting around a table with dinner laid out in front of them. General Icebreath's mate, a beautiful electric dragoness, and, Cynder realised with shock, a daughter. His daughter. A young, pretty ice dragoness, with piercing cyan eyes like her father's. _I knew General Icebreath had a mate, but I didn't know he also had a child!_ Cynder thought. _This dragon never ceases to surprise me._

"Is that the bad dragon?" the little dragoness asked, and Cynder's heart fell.

"Yes." General Icebreath said.

"Why is she here?" his mate asked scornfully.

"Just something to do with work. I'll be with you shortly, and she'll be out of our scales when we're done." the guard replied, turning down the hallway and away from his family. Cynder followed him.

General Icebreath turned and with hushed malice, began speaking. "You think I would _start again_ with you?! No way! All you've ever done to me is _accuse_ me and be rude to me! Ever since you came back to Warfang with Spyro you have!" the guard scowled. "I don't see how that purple dragon could love you, you vile, disrespectful piece of scum!"

"But I'm genuine about this! I realise my fault and I want to start again! I'm truly sorry about everything I've said to you!" Cynder said with a forced whisper, and General Icebreath raised an eyebrow, causing her to add, "And about you!"

"You really think I believe that bunch of baloney, Cynder?!" General Icebreath scowled, a little louder than he intended.

"Icebreath?! What's going on over there?! Your dinner's getting cold!" his mate called.

"Come on, Dad!" came the voice of his daughter.

"Coming, sweetie!" General Icebreath called with more gentleness in his voice than Cynder had ever heard come from his lips.

General Icebreath's entire demeanour changed when he whirled back to look at Cynder, getting his face incredibly close to hers, making the dark purple dragoness hold her breath with worry. He spoke with a harsh whisper, and she could feel his hot breath against her body. "If you dare interrupt my family time again, I will freeze you and leave you in that ball of ice until you die of hypothermia!" General Icebreath scowled with extreme bitterness as he kept his voice low as to not worry his family. "Now if you ever want to talk to me again, make sure it is on a day when I'm not working, and when I'm _outside_ of the house _as well as_ alone, without my family around me! And if you think I will listen, it depends on how I'm feeling! _Especially_ towards you! _Ever since_ you came to Warfang, you've made my life _sick_ , and all you've done is remind me of my childhood! Now get out of my house!"

"Alright! Wh-wh-whatever you say, General!" Cynder stammered, shrinking backwards.

" _Now_." General Icebreath deadpanned.

She turned and walked back through the house, receiving scornful looks from the other members of General Icebreath's family, before walking out of the door and closing it behind her. She heard General Icebreath's family conversing from inside the house. "What was that about?" his mate asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, my love." General Icebreath muttered, and Cynder heard him kiss his mate. Cynder sighed sadly.

"Was she mean to you, Daddy?" General Icebreath's daughter asked.

"No, honey. I'm fine." came the reply. "Just make sure to be careful around her if you see her again."

"Yes, Daddy."

 _That was_ not _how I planned this to go. Just wonderful. Now his whole_ family _is against me._ Cynder thought. _I seriously need a rest. This is getting too much for me._

Cynder trudged slowly back to her apartment, opening the door and catching Spyro's attention. "Oh, hey, Cynder. Did you need some more fresh air?" Spyro asked.

"I was trying to make things right with General Icebreath." Cynder muttered, stopping in her tracks as she stared at her paws.

"Oh, great! How did that go?" Spyro asked.

"Absolutely horrible. General Icebreath threatened me and completely ignored what I was trying to say. I only managed to say sorry and that was it." Cynder deadpanned.

"Oh, come on, Cynder. With your history with General Icebreath, why do you expect it to work from point one? It'll take a while for General Icebreath to get on good terms with you." Spyro explained with a half-hearted chuckle.

Cynder scoffed. "As if he will. What's even the point?" Cynder groaned.

"You said you don't like the way he treats you. This can fix that. This can help make you two start _agreeing_ on things rather than disagreeing and getting into fights like Volteer and Cyril." Spyro explained.

Almost exactly on cue, Volteer burst into Spyro's apartment, breathing heavily and causing Spyro and Cynder to look at him with shock. Volteer's vibrant yellow scales were dullened by the dust that had settled on them, and a look of sheer terror was on his face. "Volteer? What's the matter?" Spyro asked.

"I'm utterly worried and confused! No one is acting like themselves!" Volteer panted with large amounts of panic evident in how quickly the yellow dragon spoke. "Terrador _attacked_ Cyril not too long ago, and I tried to get Terrador out to apologise or just to explain what he was thinking, but he won't come out of his room!"

 _And Volteer isn't using massive words. He's completely freaking out as well. He's hardly ever this worried that he resorts to using short words._ Cynder thought.

"Meh. Keep him in there. That'll teach him to yell at me." Spyro scoffed, a nasty smile tugging at his lips as his teeth glistened in the moonlight that shone through the open door to his apartment.

"Spyro?!" Cynder asked with disbelief. "That's the first time I've _ever_ heard you talk like that!"

"Do you _see_ what I mean?!" Volteer asked. "Please! I need help getting Terrador out of his room and to get him to stop sulking!"

"You're right, that _isn't_ like him. Why would he attack Cyril? _He's_ not the one always in fights with him." Cynder stated.

"Just come and help! I'm freaking out! I'm flustered!" Volteer pleaded through gritted fangs. "I've never felt like this before and I don't know what to do!"

"Right, sorry. Coming." Cynder said, turning around and following Volteer as he bolted out the doorway towards the Warfang Temple, leaving Spyro behind. "Slow down, Volteer!"

"Hurry up! I'm worried about Terrador!" Volteer cried, his voice echoing from the distance.

Cynder picked up the pace as she caught up with Volteer, who had managed to get himself to stop sprinting as he stopped in front of the Warfang Temple. He waited until Cynder caught up with him, and Volteer opened the door and rushed inside in a flustered panic, spluttering all the while. Cynder walked inside and gasped with shock as she saw the shattered earth missile on the ground as well as some dust, and a small pile of Cyril's blood that had collected onto the smooth, stainless marble ground.

"Quick, this way!" Volteer panicked.

When Volteer saw Cynder's gaze snap to his direction, he ran off frantically down the hallway towards Terrador's room. Cynder felt fear grip her chest as she, too, began to panic. Sure, the guardians fought all the time, mainly Volteer and Cyril, but _attacking_ each other?! And _Terrador_ the one behind the attack?! That made a panic unlike any other rise up in Cynder's chest, and she began to fear that everyone she thought she knew was slipping away from her, including Spyro, who had taken on a much darker, mocking tone than what he was known for.

Volteer and Cynder arrived in front of Terrador's room, the door shut. "Terrador, can you hear me?" Volteer asked, but there was no reply. "Terrador? Terrador, answer me!"

"We're just here to help you!" Cynder added.

Still no reply.

Volteer rolled his eyes and reached for the doorknob to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Volteer pulled a confused face as he tried desperately to push open the door, putting both forepaws on the doorknob and trying desperately to open it, he swayed unsteadily on his hind legs, not used to doing this much, but caught his balance quickly as he continued to try to shove open the door. Nothing he did worked. Volteer stepped back, bringing his forepaws to the ground. Then he ran towards the door and slammed his body into it. Volteer rebounded back off the door with shout, clutching his shoulder. A few clacks and clatters were heard, the sound of rocks and pebbles falling. "He's keeping the door shut with an earth barrier." Volteer stated.

"We're coming in, Terrador." Cynder announced, hoping her voice wouldn't be drowned out by the earth barrier.

"How are we going to do that?" Volteer asked.

"Grab a hold of me." Cynder said. "And don't let go."

Hesitantly, Volteer brought a shaking paw towards Cynder's shoulder and placing his bright yellow paw on the dark purple scales. He didn't have a chance to ask what was about to happen as suddenly, black swirling energy enveloped him and Cynder, and they floated in a dark void. Volteer shuddered, bringing his other forepaw to cling onto Cynder to make sure he didn't let go. He didn't know what would happen if he let go inside his own shadow. Cynder motioned Volteer to walk forward, and so they walked forward, underneath the door and the earth barrier. Volteer knew that Cynder could actually see the world around them, but, just like Aaron, all Volteer saw was swirling darkness.

It wasn't long before Volteer and Cynder returned from their shadows into Terrador's room. They saw Terrador flinch as he saw them enter his room. "Oh, hi." Terrador said grumpily.

"Hi, Terrador. Volteer told me he's worried about you. How come?" Cynder asked.

"Oh, since when did you care?!" Terrador snapped, causing both Volteer and Cynder to flinch. "The only dragon you _ever_ cared about was Spyro!"

"That's not true. I do care for all of you guardians. And I have friends that I still care about, despite having not seen them in about a month." Cynder explained. "What's gotten you so angry? You're normally _never_ this mad."

"I brought up Ignitus again and Cyril… he started yelling at me impatiently telling me I had a job to do and I had to hurry and do it and not get distracted. Well, he didn't say it like that, but it was what it felt like to me. I felt like Ignitus was my brother, and Cyril was acting all strong because he says he still has a brother. Then we got into a fight and he called me 'rubblebrain'." Terrador recalled with a snarl, a menacing growl emanating from his voice as the last word came out of his mouth. "I may have called Cyril a dork, but calling me 'rubblebrain' just made my head cloud up with nothing but hate. I couldn't stop it. I knocked him down to the ground."

"I saw the dust and the blood, Terrador. Honestly, that's not something I'd expect from _guardians_. That's behaviour I expect from _children_." Cynder said.

Terrador leapt to his feet, a scowl on his face. "ARE YOU CALLING ME A CHILD?!" Terrador roared, his eyes burning red.

"No, no, no! No! No, Terrador! No, I'm not!" Cynder cried hastily, stepping back several metres while Volteer let out a yelp of concern for Terrador. "I'm just saying that something wrong is going on here. You don't seem like yourself at all."

"What?" Terrador asked, looking at Volteer.

"She's telling the truth. This is your fourth wild outburst of rage in twenty hours!" Volteer exclaimed.

"Make that five. I got extremely angry at Spyro in our conversation earlier. I almost knocked him to the ground. I would have if Spyro hadn't pinned me to the ground first." Terrador explained.

"Spyro… he… _what_?!" Cynder shrieked. "He _pinned_ you?!"

"Yeah. Then he got really mad and creepy. Something was wrong with him." Terrador shuddered.

"Something's wrong with everyone. If you haven't noticed, Volteer is extremely flustered and isn't using a massive dictionary-worth of oversized words." Cynder stated. "And Spyro is very angry and mocking and… even dark at times. I noticed that when you forced answers out of me about the ape. And I've even noticed a change in me. In a way, it's sort of like Spyro and I have swapped personalities, yet I still feel my true traits, and Spyro does show his kind, caring traits towards me, but only on the occasion. I'm not so sure if that's his love for me driving his original character traits or not, because he seems unlike himself when talking to any other dragon."

"I don't know what's going on with everybody, including me. I'm stressed. I've felt stress before, and in huge amounts too, but this is different. It's almost like I'm anxious about something, and I don't know why." Terrador muttered.

Cynder's eyes widened with understanding. "The ape! Everyone's worried about the ape!" Cynder exclaimed. "Terrador, your stress must be coming from trauma from the war with the apes! I think the stress and anxiety you're receiving from this situation is making you go completely mad! Same with everyone else's change of attitude!"

"Oh, no. We must go tell Spyro!" Volteer said.

Terrador released an earth missile at the earth barrier he had created, causing it to shatter in a cloud of dust, however, breaking the door off its hinges as well. "Quick, let's go!" Cynder shouted with immense amounts of urgency in her voice.

Terrador and Volteer followed Cynder as she raced out of the earth guardian's room, bolting down the hallway and turning into the dusty foyer of the Warfang Temple. Before Cynder and the two guardians could make it out of the Warfang Temple, the large doors burst open and a raging ice dragon slammed through them, snapping one of the doors off one of its hinges. "WHO DID IT?!" General Icebreath demanded. "COME ON, TELL ME! WHO ATTACKED MY BROTHER?!"

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 **Things are starting to get crazy now, huh? Something's going to go down next chapter with General Icebreath. And it's going to be something big. And during the editing process I changed most of the scene with Cynder and General Icebreath, because I wanted a bit more dialogue with General Icebreath's family, and a bit of judgement and scorn coming Cynder's way. Especially some innocent judgement from General Icebreath's unnamed daughter. Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 13: Fury

**I'm pumping out these chapters much quicker than normal – just finished writing Chapter 45 (I'm way ahead lol). I guess it's because I'm not as busy as I don't have as many videos to record for my YouTube channel and I'm not busy editing them. 'Coz school's back on and I don't have the time to make videos (yet I can do this – huh…) so I can focus slightly more on this until assignments and stuff get really intense (which I gather will be** ** _very_** **soon), so updates on this story will be slightly more frequent.**

 **Anyway, 'LoNeWoLf' is kind of hoping that Aaron will, by a miracle, somehow avoid the chaos coming his way. Absolutely** ** _not_** **. It's kind of inevitable at this point. And I've already written so far into the story that I know** ** _exactly_** **what happens, and man, Aaron's in a lot of trouble, let me tell you that much. And the point Terrador made last chapter about Cynder only caring for Spyro was just a little special thing I added when I originally wrote it back in May last year, before I started reading Spyro fanfics, and I must say I agree with you. Lots of fanfictions make Spyro/Cynder ignore everyone else in their life because they're too focused on their love life. So I guess it makes much more sense now.**

 **If you have anything you want to ask me about** ** _Broken Perceptions_** **, or let me know about anything you liked from this fanfic, please PM me or review, because I would really love to know if you're enjoying this and what bits of the story make you enjoy it. But enough of my rambling, onto the story. Lots more violence coming up - you may be able to tell what happens by the name of the chapter.**

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 _He's seeming a lot more angry than usual._ Cynder thought. _I understand why he would be angry at_ me _, but to just burst through the doors of the Warfang Temple exploding with rage is even unlike_ him _! Aaron's sudden appearance must be doing something to everyone here!_

Terrador and Volteer spluttered, stepping backwards with fear. Cynder followed suit, rushing back behind the two guardians, not wanting to get caught up in the mess with General Icebreath. "COME ON! SPIT IT OUT! WHO WOULD DARE DRAW BLOOD FROM CYRIL?!" General Icebreath roared before catching the fearful gaze on Cynder's face. "IT WAS _YOU_ , YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE FIEND! WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE?! THE GUARDIANS ARE LIKE BROTHERS TO EACH OTHER, AND I KNOW THEY WOULDN'T _DARE_ DO THAT SORT OF DAMAGE TO EACH OTHER!"

This time it was Cynder's turn to splutter and speak wordlessly as she made unintelligible sounds, trying to find the right words to say to prove her point that it wasn't her who attacked Cyril. She understood General Icebreath's reasoning and judgement, but now this was just getting too far. Volteer was about to open his mouth but was interrupted by a loud crash as Cynder was knocked to the ground by a freezing beam of ice, the ice shards freezing around her shoulders and weighting her down, rendering Cynder unable to stand. General Icebreath ran towards Cynder, causing Volteer to let out panicked shouts as Terrador felt his face heat up. Cynder saw Terrador's face go red, and she begged for General Icebreath to stop the attack, but he wouldn't listen. General Icebreath was silenced as a dusty explosion ripped through the marble chamber.

Or so they thought.

With a roar, General Icebreath leapt out of the cloud of dust at Terrador, a sharp fragment of rock pointing out of his shoulder as blood oozed slowly from it. General Icebreath flung himself at the enraged earth guardian with a deafening roar. Extending his claws, General Icebreath grabbed a firm hold of Terrador and attempted to pull the earth guardian to the ground, but Terrador created a barrier of rock around his hind legs, stopping him from toppling over, and he raised his forepaws and sunk his claws into General Icebreath's abdomen. The ice dragon guard roared with pain as he jerked his head backwards, his fangs bared and saliva spraying from his jaws. Cynder thought he looked like a savage animal, like the dumb predators that weren't intelligent like them or the cheetahs. General Icebreath increased the might behind his grip on Terrador's shoulders, drawing blood which dripped down Terrador's green arms and spilled onto the once stainless marble ground. Gathering as much energy as he could, Terrador pushed with all his might, causing General Icebreath to slip backwards as he fell backwards, landing on his back. There was a loud popping sound as General Icebreath howled with pain, and Volteer and Cynder knew that one of General Icebreath's wings, if not both, had been dislocated, the loud pop reverberating vividly in their ears.

Terrador released his hold on the rocky foothold he had and rushed forward, leaping into the air with his claws raised, ready to penetrate the hard scales along General Icebreath's stomach that ran down his body as part of his underbelly. General Icebreath released a beam of ice at Terrador's hind legs, knocking the earth guardian off balance and sending him somersaulting in the air. Terrador only managed to give General Icebreath a tiny scratch across the stomach, white claw marks showing on the ice dragon's dark indigo underbelly, but no blood was drawn. Terrador's head slammed into the marble ground with a crash and cracks appeared in the ground as the earth guardian's rock-hard skull penetrated the hard marble. Terrador recovered quickly, and General Icebreath also managed to stand up. The two infuriated dragons hurled themselves at each other. Terrador brought his claws up underneath General Icebreath and made a clean cut across the ice dragon's chin all the way down to halfway down his neck. General Icebreath let out a pained snarl as he opened his jaws and brought them down on Terrador's arm. Terrador let out a howl as he slammed his skull into General Icebreath's head, causing the ice dragon to yank his head away and roar with pain, his teeth and lips dripping with blood.

Cynder knew she needed to stop the battle, but she didn't know how. She was stuck on the ground, and Volteer was panicking so much and too scared to interfere with the outrageous duel that Terrador and General Icebreath were engaged in. She brought all her might into her chest and shoulders as she gritted her teeth, pushing forward with her shoulders to break free from the ice that had not only grounded her, but had begun to stick to the ground, freezing Cynder in place instead of merely pinning her. She watched in horror as Terrador stumbled, lifting up his left forepaw so no pressure would be put on the arm, which was dripping freely with blood. Cynder, through narrowed and strained eyes, turned her gaze onto General Icebreath, who was dazed, his head bruised and cut, with small amounts of blood dripping out of the cuts.

General Icebreath let a loud guttural growl rumble from his throat as he charged towards Terrador. Still recovering from the shock of his injury, Terrador swayed a bit, and when he looked up to see General Icebreath charging at him, it was too late as General Icebreath slammed his head into Terrador's chest, his spiky indigo horns leaving several scratches on Terrador's scales. Terrador stumbled as he fell backwards. He noticed something hard had broken his fall, but he didn't know what. But suddenly there was a smashing sound, followed by shocked gasps from Volteer and Cynder. Terrador tried to calm his breathing as he looked down at what had broken his fall with the hard marble ground.

A disembodied stone head of Ignitus lay on the ground next to Terrador. Standing up, Terrador felt dust and rubble fall from his back as he stared at the crushed statue with disbelief. "HOW COULD YOU?! THAT STATUE OF IGNITUS WAS THE ONLY THING WE HAD LEFT OF HIM!" Terrador roared, his gravelly voice cracking under the pressure. "THAT STATUE MEANT _EVERYTHING_ TO US AND FOR SPYRO!"

"If I remember correctly," General Icebreath said with a menacing chuckle. "It was _you_ who crushed the statue, not me."

"HE WAS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME! HE WAS SPYRO'S MENTOR AND FATHER FIGURE! HE DIED A HERO, AND YOU DO _THIS_ TO HIM?!" Terrador roared as Earth energy began to swirl around him. "SPYRO WILL BE _SHOCKED_ TO SEE THAT YOU DID THIS!"

"Why are you protecting Spyro like this?! He's not your son! Stop trying to play 'daddy' for him!" General Icebreath scowled. "If you want someone to be 'daddy' to, why don't you go to your disgrace of a son?!"

"THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS EGG WHEN HE HATCHED! DON'T DARE SPEAK ABOUT SOILROUSER LIKE THAT!" Terrador screamed. "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I SPOKE OF YOUR DAUGHTER LIKE THAT?!"

"Don't you even _dare_!" General Icebreath warned.

"JUST GET OUT!" Terrador shrieked, his voice dangerously low, causing Volteer and Cyril to flinch in fear. "I WILL NOT APPRECIATE THIS BEHAVIOUR ONE BIT! YOU ARE A DISGRACE FOR YOUR TITLE OF GENERAL, ICEBREATH!"

"Wait, what are you saying?!" General Icebreath exclaimed, his voice nothing but a shudder. "You don't mean…?!"

"GO! AND NEVER COME BACK!" Terrador howled, and he released his energy with a deafening roar.

Cynder ripped her body from the ground, shattering the ice that had frozen her to the ground. She leapt at Volteer and knocked him to the ground as they huddled together, the roaring rumble of Terrador's earth fury deafening them as rocks and pebbles hit them, scratching and cutting their scales and drawing small, insignificant amounts of blood. Cynder looked up at Terrador, who's body glowed a violent green as the ground cracked under his claws and raw energy of the earth element rippled through the air from his body. The first ripple hit Volteer and Cynder, causing them to shout in pain as the ripple tore through their bodies in a violent tremor. Cynder knew that furies were created by one of two things: Purple gems or intense rage that couldn't be controlled; but Terrador's rage had surpassed the amount needed to initiate a fury, and his fury was unlike any other Volteer and Cynder had ever seen. It was incredibly destructive. Cracks appeared all around the Warfang Temple and dust went everywhere. A loud scream was released, and Cynder looked over at General Icebreath, who was hammered hard by the earth fury as he was closer to Terrador, meaning the ripples of energy were much stronger than the ones that were hitting Volteer and Cynder. General Icebreath was covered in bruises and blood, mostly Terrador's blood, as he stumbled back. General Icebreath pleaded for Terrador to stop, but with another enraged roar, the ripples came faster as Terrador's rage intensified even more. General Icebreath was thrown into the air, landing hard against the wall and falling down to the ground with a pained shout. He struggled to all fours, groaning with pain.

Cynder couldn't watch anymore. The immense glow coming from Terrador's body was blinding her, and the horrific sight of Terrador, who was normally immensely calm and collected, now exploding with uncontrollable rage as he began to stagger towards General Icebreath, became too much for Cynder to bear. She turned her head away and closed her eyes, only to let out a shuddering scream as a massive rock hit the back of her head, tearing away a couple scales and a little bit of flesh, drawing blood. Volteer cried out in pain as another ripple of raw energy went through his body, and Cynder scowled, realising she needed to stop this madness. She slowly got to her feet and let out a roar as she released a siren scream at both Terrador and General Icebreath. They shouted as the siren scream hit them, and they fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Unintentionally, Terrador's fury intensified even more, knocking Cynder off her feet. Volteer found the need to do something as he released an insanely strong bolt of lightning towards Terrador and General Icebreath, knocking them both unconscious as they convulsed violently. When Terrador fell unconscious, the energy died away and his fury ended.

Volteer and Cynder struggled to get to their feet, and Cynder sighed. "That got way too far." Cynder said. "Something is happening to these two especially, and it's not good. General Icebreath is known to get angry, but his anger was bursting at the seams that time. That was different. I'm worried for him and Terrador."

"Me, too." Volteer shuddered. "Just look at this wreck."

Cynder looked around the foyer of the Warfang Temple. Walls were shattered and crumbling, the floor had massive cracks in it, and a lot of the pillars had chunks of them ripped out by the Earth Fury. She looked down at her paws where a chunk of one of the pillars lay on the ground at her paws, and she realised that must have been what hit her. She winced as she recognised the feel of warm blood trickling down her head. Cynder looked over at the statues. Ignitus was shattered, and she was surprised that the other statues had made it through the earth fury.

Except for one other statue, however. Terrador was cracked across the body and a large chunk of his chest had been ripped out of the statue. There was even a chunk gone from his left arm, much like the bite wound left over by General Icebreath.

"We need to warn Spyro. I'm worried what he'll do if he explodes like that. I've seen him recently and he's a bit more angry than he should be. Scratch that, he's _never_ angry. This is off for Spyro. If Terrador's never angry and he did _this_ , I shudder to what Spyro would do with all _four_ elements!" Cynder cried.

"We need to warn Spyro!" Volteer shouted.

"Agreed!" Cynder said.

Just as Cynder ran towards the door, she was interrupted again as a falcon flew in front of her face, chirping wildly and franticly. Cynder reeled back in shock as she hadn't expected the falcon to suddenly appear in front of her face. Blushing as she realised she had gotten scared by a bird, she calmed down and noticed a rolled up piece of paper in its talons. She realised that the paper must be from the cheetahs, as they always sent falcons to deliver their messages. Cynder reached out a paw and the falcon dropped the note in it, flying away as soon as it did so. "What's that?" Volteer asked.

"A note from the cheetahs." Cynder said, sitting down to open up the note.

"What does it say?" Volteer asked.

Cynder didn't reply as she opened the note and gasped. The note read:

 _We found another ape._

 _\- Hunter_

Cynder knew Hunter didn't mean Aaron. Hence why he wrote the word 'another' to explain that there was a second. And 'we' probably meant him and Aaron. Cynder sure hoped this ape was another stray from Aaron's world that had somehow come across the Dragon Realms like Aaron had. But deep down in her heart, Cynder knew that Hunter meant an ape. A _real_ ape. Cynder's throat and windpipe constricted as her heart raced and her blood boiled.

"Cynder? Can you tell me what it says?" Volteer asked again.

Cynder let out a frantic cry as she spat poison at the note, which ate through the paper within seconds. Cynder ran past the smouldering, sizzling remains of the paper and out the Warfang Temple, launching herself into the air. She looked behind her as she saw Volteer yelling for her to come back, but she only guessed that that was what he was yelling for, as she couldn't hear him. She turned her gaze forward and sped up as she flew franticly towards the Cheetah Village. She didn't know if the ape had been captured or if it had led an entire army to a siege on the Cheetah Village. Cynder knew that there was more to these problems than she knew what to do with, and the realisation hit her that more violence was going to rise up from the entire situation with the apes. Somehow, Aaron had already turned Terrador and General Icebreath against each other, as well as Terrador with Cyril. She knew it wasn't his fault, but everything was perfectly fine before Aaron appeared. But she was concerned for Aaron. She needed to find him. She hoped the ape hadn't taken them down.

* * *

 **So Terrador fought off with Cyril's brother, this time. Calling out 'LoNeWoLf' due to his very strong approval of Cyril's fate back in Chapter 11, what did you think of General Icebreath's fate? Deserved? Up to you, readers! Anyway, we'll be back with Aaron and Hunter next chapter to see what this whole ape business is about.**


	15. Chapter 14: Apes

**Well, we return to Aaron and Hunter in this chapter to see what this whole 'another ape' business is about. This one might be kind of boring, but most fillers are. Anyway, enjoy, hopefully.**

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"Stay low and quiet." Hunter whispered.

Aaron nodded as they moved about in almost a squatted position as they followed the ape through the forest, an arrow readied at the drawstring of their bows as they prepared to strike at any moment. The ape walked through the forest noisily, its feet stomping down on the grass. Aaron could see that the apes' structure had changed quite a fair bit since _The Eternal Night_. Its shoulders were still quite large, but not as large as they had been, and on the occasion when the ape turned around a small amount, Aaron noticed that the ape's snout was a lot shorter. The ape was composed like a mix of humans, the apes on Earth, and the apes that used to roam in the Dragon Realms during _A New Beginning_ and _The Eternal Night_. One thing that confused Aaron and Hunter the most was the fact that the ape didn't have a spear in its hands. Or strapped anywhere onto its body. The ape was defenceless. It made Aaron wonder if the ape was looking for its weapon; it appeared much like the ape was looking for something.

Suddenly, the ape turned around, causing Aaron and Hunter to lower themselves to the ground in a kneeling position in almost complete synchronisation as the ape looked around. The ape's features were revealed to Aaron and Hunter, and they looked at each other. Hunter shook his head in utter disbelief, and Aaron scratched his head in confusion. The ape's face wasn't hateful or longing for violence like they were in _A New Beginning_ and _The Eternal Night_ or before that in the first war with Malefor. The ape was calm and collected, and had a hint of sincerity and gentleness in the expression. That was the first time Aaron and Hunter had seen an ape look that way.

The mystery of how the apes returned was a mystery in itself, but there was the possibility that they had changed, and that made the entire situation even more unbelievable. The apes were known to be deceitful creatures, and they received the curse that turned them into shadow apes because they had even deceived _Malefor_. Malefor had always assumed that the apes were loyal to him, but the Dark Master only discovered during the three-year gap between _The Eternal Night_ and _Dawn of the Dragon_ that the apes were _using_ Malefor to gain power for themselves. So seeing an ape composed with the opposite of deceitfulness and hate messed up Aaron and Hunter's thinking. Aaron even noticed as Hunter loosened his grip on his bow and arrow, causing the arrow to begin to slip down the drawstring and out of alignment. Hunter caught Aaron's gaze and a confused expression etched its way onto Hunter's face. Aaron shook his bow and arrow gently and Hunter's expression flared up with embarrassment as he hastily corrected his hold on the bow and arrow. A smile tugged at Aaron's lips, but he frowned again as he saw the ape do something completely unexpected.

The ape turned and bent down to the ground, and when it stood up, it was holding a handful of colourful berries. Aaron noticed Hunter's eyes widen. Mouthing as to not make any noise, Hunter turned to Aaron and mouthed, "They don't eat berries! They only eat meat from their dead victims!"

Aaron could only shrug as he turned to look at the ape again as it shoved the handful of berries in a large bag slung around its shoulder. The bag had hundreds more berries in it that the ape had plucked earlier. Aaron narrowed his eyes in confusion as he tried to see if there was any sense of caution on the ape's features, as Aaron supposed it was probably only getting berries for some other cause involving prisoners or something else. But there was no caution. The ape wasn't sneaking around in search for the berries. It was like it was actually going to eat the berries.

As soon as Aaron thought that, the ape opened its jaws wide and threw three or four berries of assorted colours into its mouth and chewed on them before swallowing. But it was then that something even stranger happened. The ape smiled and licked its lips. Obviously the ape liked the berries. Aaron wondered if the ape was a stray or a rebel, much like he was in his situation. But then something even more unbelievable happened. The ape _spoke_.

"Hmm, these are good. I'm sure that'll be enough for today. Everyone will be happy, and I know there'll be enough to feed my family."

Aaron scrunched his face up, and as he looked over to Hunter, he watched as the cheetah's jaw dropped, an astounded expression on his face. But Aaron knew that what the ape said wasn't the only thing that astonished the feline archer. The ape's voice wasn't low and gravelly and menacing. The ape was a male, which was obvious, but the voice was smooth and calm and serene. It was odd for Aaron hearing an ape sound so smooth after watching the apes on his television screen speak with voices like rock; hard and gravelly. It was an entire different matter for Hunter, who experienced and fought the apes and their wrath in person. But it was odd for the both of them, and the words that came out of the ape's jaws astonished them even more. He heard Hunter mutter, "What the hell?"

The ape turned and left as he walked down the hill and into the trees. Aaron and Hunter got close to each other as they had been separated about four or five metres as they tried to hide. "What do you think that was all about?" Aaron whispered.

"I have _no clue_! That ape's voice was unlike anything I've ever heard from his kind! And the words he spoke: 'happy' and 'family'! The apes never cared about happiness of any sort, let alone _family_! The children were abandoned from their parents almost as soon as they were born, and they grew up learning how to fight and be emotionless!" Hunter whispered hoarsely. "What the hell is going on?!"

"I think we should follow it." Aaron said. "Maybe we might learn something."

Hunter nodded in agreement. "This will be an outstanding discovery. To know that the apes have returned is definitely an overwhelming fact, but, hopefully to know that they could quite possibly be different will be a whole other story." Hunter explained. "Who knows? Maybe it'll even fix your trust problems."

"I doubt it given what history the dragons have had with the apes." Aaron said, shrugging.

Hunter nodded again. "I hope Cynder isn't too freaked out by the note I sent her." Hunter deadpanned. "If the apes _are_ different, then a possible attack from a dragon wouldn't go too well."

"If she's not concerned with other problems." Aaron said. "There have been problems with me and the dragons recently and she's probably trying to help calm them all down."

"Alright, that's enough chat. We should go before we lose track of the ape." Hunter urged.

"Good idea." Aaron said, a determined look etching onto his face.

They followed the ape for about fifteen minutes, treading lightly on the forest ground, keeping their noise to a minimum as the male ape stomped heavily through the forest. It was a while before the ape reached a hole with a diameter of about ten metres. A large metal ladder was attached to the rock face of the hole. Aaron and Hunter ducked, hiding behind some large bushes as the ape turned around to climb down the ladder. With one final sceptical look, Aaron and Hunter ran silently towards the hole. Hunter looked down the hole and saw that the ape had reached the bottom of the hole that was about fifty metres deep. Aaron and Hunter soundlessly climbed down the ladder as well. When they reached the bottom, they turned around and gasped. The ape had disappeared down another rock face with a metal ladder part of it. A hundred and fifty metres below them lay a massive underground city that resided inside a massive cave. Bright golden lights flickered in the city and the sound of apes was deafening. Aaron saw several apes walking around the city, of both old apes and young apes. The older apes were laughing and enjoying time with the younger ones, much like parents would with their children. The young apes ran around chasing each other while the older ones chatted and laughed with each other. Aaron gasped. The society in this underground ape city was like his own world's society, except it was perfect. There was no discrimination or violence. It was almost like the apes had turned from their old ways, like they had learned a lesson from Malefor's curse.

"It's so…" Hunter started, unable to find the right words.

"Shocking? Unbelievable? A bit farfetched, quite possibly?" Aaron asked.

"Maybe… I don't know." Hunter said before turning to Aaron with a playful scowl on his face. "But please, don't become the next Volteer."

Aaron and Hunter shared a little laugh. They quickly calmed down and looked back up at the hole fifty metres above them. "We should probably leave. We don't want the apes to see us and cause possible suspicion." Aaron suggested.

Hunter agreed, and the two archers turned and climbed back up the fifty-metre-tall ladder, climbing back up to the surface. Aaron looked behind him again to see as the ground behind the hole rose into a massive mountain as the grass slowly disappeared as the land got higher, turning into solid rock. Large grass spines and plants shot out of the top of the mountain, which was flat. Aaron realised that that was how the roof of the cave the ape city was insider was so high up. The city was literally built underneath a mountain. And the cave _looked_ natural, too. The apes didn't have enough knowledge on building or digging like the moles did to be able to excavate something like that, which would have taken months' worth, maybe even years' worth of work. Aaron gave the hole one final look and stepped backwards, joining up with Hunter.

Hunter looked at Aaron as the human ran quite quickly to catch up with the feline, still treading lightly on the ground. Hunter gave Aaron a smile, who returned it, and let out a sigh. "You did really well there, Aaron. You composed yourself well. You stayed quiet and focused, and you watch with intention." Hunter explained. "You're really good at this."

"Thanks. I do have my ways." Aaron said, before adding in his head. _It's called many things. Video games, hiding from bullies, walking quietly through school while older grades have exam blocks, et cetera, et cetera._

There was quiet for a while as Aaron and Hunter walked back to the Cheetah Village, which was more of a little town now that the cheetah tribe had increased significantly in numbers over the past few years. Hunter spoke again. "I'm quite surprised how quickly the cheetahs opened up to you." Hunter said.

"Same here. I expected them to completely freak out and attack me." Aaron said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, I thought so too. I think several of the cheetahs respected my judgement, as I helped out a lot during the war, a lot more than Prowlus, might I add, and my presumptions on how Spyro and Cynder would act back then was true." Hunter stated. "I guess I believed what I did thanks to Ignitus. I stumbled across Warfang during the time Spyro, Cynder and Sparx were trapped in the Time Crystal, and Ignitus not only took care of me, but, after I told him that I was one of the highest ranked archers in the Cheetah Village, that was when he put me on the task of finding them. I trusted Ignitus because he saved me from the attack that I had fallen to, and because I knew that he was wise and very trustworthy."

Aaron smiled, taking in the information that Hunter had told him about what had happened in between _The Eternal Night_ and _Dawn of the Dragon_. "By the way, thank you for accepting me, Hunter. I haven't felt like I have a place in the Dragon Realms since I came here from my world. But it's good to know that I have at least _some_ friends here that I can lean on." Aaron said with gratitude.

"It's all my pleasure." Hunter said, smiling. "I'm sure Cynder would feel the same way."

* * *

 **Yeah, so the apes have changed as well. I'm probably going to get a whole lot of backlash from this, similar to the whole 'Cynder saving Aaron' decision I made in Chapter 5. But if you have any questions or statements about this ape thing (or anything else in the story if you must), please PM me or leave a review. I just ask you to not hate me, and respect my decisions, as I will respect your decisions and opinions – we are all entitled to our own opinions after all, and I'm not forcing you to like my story. But I still want to know what you think of my story, so please let me know.**


	16. Chapter 15: Misunderstanding

**Thank you to everyone who has shown their interest in** ** _Broken Perceptions_** **so far. This story has almost hit 4000 views, with almost 20 reviews, just over 20 favourites, and almost 30 followers. Thank you so much for your support. I mean it.**

 **I want to respond to a few comments/reviews. Firstly, I want to thank the guest 'MCZ' for your encouraging review. I didn't expect those words to come my way, since I'm normally telling other people that. So just going out to let everyone else know, who can do whatever you want, whatever excites you, as long as you go for it and keep going. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but haven't had the time, effort or motivation to make an FFnet account until January, despite having started this fanfic back in March last year.**

 **To 'Gameguy95', I'm actually glad that you like what I'm doing. And you're right, taking it apart like that and looking at the essentials of what I'm doing in this story. It hasn't really been done before, and I never really looked at this story through those eyes before. After the destruction and issues from the war with Malefor, no one seems to know who to trust, especially when thrown into a situation where a human, that looks much like an ape, is put into their lives. It's probably the first time where the human character of a** ** _Legend of Spyro_** **fanfic is portrayed as weak, as they normally have some large destiny, get turned into a dragon, or get special powers in their human form. Aaron is definitely not in the 'Chosen One' slot like you said most human characters are. And he's not the generic fanboy. If situations were different, Aaron would definitely be a lot more interested in getting to know the dragons personally, but he's not the 'fanboy-ish' type of character. And it will get to quite a fair bit of gloominess down the track, in response to your final sentence of your review, but it will end on a lighter note. I've already finished Chapter 47 of the story, and the biggest 'doom and gloom' section of the story is over, although in terms of what's been uploaded, there is worse to come… much worse…**

 **And due to how well this story's been going so far, I want to thank 'BirmanDragon' and 'Riverstyxx' (the latter will probably never see this but oh well) for inspiring me to do this. 'Riverstyxx' has made some of, if not** ** _the best_** **fanfictions I've ever seen on this site. Seriously, you should check out their fanfics. If not for the amazing creative work that expanded on the** ** _Legend of Spyro_** **games in those fanfics, especially** ** _Residual Darkness_** **and** ** _Firelight_** **, I probably wouldn't have been inspired to start this. And 'BirmanDragon' was the one who inspired me to get an account on FFnet. Back when their first fanfic,** ** _Obsidian_** **, came out, I quite enjoyed it, although it had many flaws in the writing skills. But I saw the potential in the concepts brought up in** ** _Obsidian_** **, and I stuck with the stories. The sequel,** ** _Destiny_** **, carried some interesting concepts as well, but I felt that the story was lacking something, and it really bugged me, so for the first time, I left a guest review. Now, with** ** _Destiny_** **'s sequel,** ** _Accursed Fires_** **, in progress, and seeing how much progress 'BirmanDragon' has made in their writing skills, I decided to put my reviews and feedback to 'BirmanDragon' to good use, and make an FFnet account, and begin to upload my, at the time 35-chapter fanfiction that I had started writing 10 months prior, and now here I am.**

 **Anyway, with all my responses and thank you's out of the way (that was one hell of an A/N, I apologise for this happening again), onto the story. I'm not as happy with this one as I am with a lot of my other chapters, but eh, you'll get chapters like that.**

* * *

Aaron and Hunter stayed quiet for the rest of the way back to the Cheetah Village. When they got back, they were tackled to the ground by Cynder. Flapping her wings and speaking with a panicky voice, Cynder exclaimed, "Oh ancestors, are you alright?! You scared me so much when you sent me that note! Where is that nasty ape?! Is everyone else alright?! What…?!"

"Calm down, Cynder!" Aaron yelled. "Everyone's fine!"

Cynder looked down to realise she had Aaron and Hunter struggling to escape from underneath her paws. "Oh, sorry." Cynder apologised, smiling awkwardly as she stepped off Aaron and Hunter.

"Thanks. Just don't do that again, please." Hunter said, standing up and wiping his dirty, dusty cloak clean as clouds of dust flew off it.

"Sorry. The note just scared me, that's all. Learning that an ape, a _real_ ape, was around, I couldn't stand the thought." Cynder shuddered.

"Well that wasn't just _any_ ape." Hunter said as Aaron nodded in agreement. "It was almost composed differently, and when it spoke to itself, its voice was _smooth_ instead of hard and gravelly. It was harvesting _berries_ and after following it for fifteen, twenty minutes, it led us to an underground _ape village_."

"So… there's more?" Cynder asked.

"What confuses me is the sudden change of the apes' behaviour. I looked at the ape village and saw that their actions and entire demeanour had changed. They acted like… I don't know, almost like family. Like they cared about each other." Aaron explained. "That was behaviour that was not _nearly_ evident in the Legend. Even _I'm_ stumped."

"So wait… you're saying that they've changed?" Cynder asked. "I don't believe that for a second!"

" _You_ changed." Aaron deadpanned.

"That was different! I was under Malefor's control and judgement! I couldn't think for myself, I always did everything like a zombie, like Malefor was controlling me!" Cynder argued. "The apes are different; they always have been! They served Malefor _willingly_ , and even _then_ Malefor still found out that they were going to betray him! _That's_ why Malefor cursed them! The apes don't just _change_ like you say they did."

"You would believe what Aaron is saying if you saw it." Hunter explained. "I don't know how to explain it, but they _have_ changed."

Cynder didn't know what to say. She spluttered for several seconds, making odd sounds, before giving up and sighing. "You're right. I didn't see it for myself." Cynder said.

"Hey, Cynder! Why'd you fly off like that?!" a voice all too familiar called.

"He _followed_ me?!" Cynder scowled through gritted teeth.

Aaron tensed and ran off into the busy parts of the large Cheetah Village, hiding behind one of the huts. But he had already been seen. "APE!" Volteer screamed as he landed on the ground, his jaws crackling with electricity.

"NO, VOLTEER, NO!" Cynder shrieked as she ran towards Volteer and pushing him backwards. "HE'S NOT LIKE WHAT YOU THINK HE IS!"

"Run, Aaron!" Hunter shouted. " _Run_!"

Aaron didn't think twice. He leapt out from behind the hut and darted off into the large town. Volteer leapt out of Cynder's grip and chased after Aaron. Cynder pleaded for Volteer to stop, but the electric guardian wouldn't listen. He _refused_ to. Letting out a vicious roar, Volteer released a bolt of electricity that landed in front of Aaron, causing him to halt to a stop. Several cheetahs were almost hit by the bolt, and angry protests roared up as Volteer circled around the Cheetah Village, unable to get in between the houses to attack Aaron physically. Aaron had turned and was about to run back the way he had come, but he was stopped by another bolt of lightning. Aaron turned again and ran out of Volteer's view as he ran into one of the darkest, thinnest alleyways in between the huts. He hid there, squashed between the two huts he was hiding, breathing heavily as Volteer's angry roars sent fear into his heart. Aaron jumped as he felt a tap on his shoulder, and as he whirled around, he saw a young red cheetah, female, about sixteen or seventeen years old. "Aaron, come this way!" the cheetah said.

Without questioning the young cheetah, Aaron followed her down the dark path. Aaron would have asked for the cheetah's name, but there was no time with Volteer searching for him and attacking him, and unintentionally, the village. Aaron and the cheetah jumped as an explosion ripped through one of the huts on their side. "He's found us!" the cheetah cried.

Another building exploded. The angry protests from the cheetahs intensified, and the shocked and angry pleads of Cynder and unter roared throughout the sky. Aaron knew no one was safe while he was here. There was another explosion as a watch tower fell over, trapping Aaron and the cheetah. Aaron knew he needed to go, and immediately. "What's your name, kid?" Aaron asked the cheetah.

"My name? It's Rose." the red cheetah said.

"Thank you, Rose." Aaron said, turning and leaping over the decimated watch tower.

Rose's startled cries were drowned out by Volteer's roaring and the cheetah's protests as Aaron ran back out into the opening from the many huts that crowded the area which had created the dark alleyway that had hidden Aaron for less than thirty seconds. Volteer let out a startled cry upon seeing Aaron again, and Aaron ducked as a bolt of electricity thundered over his head, causing his smooth black hair to stand on end. But Aaron kept on running as he knew he needed to stop Volteer's attack. While he loathed what he had to do, he did it.

He grabbed his bow and an arrow, aimed, and released the drawstring.

A pained roar ripped from Volteer's jaws as pain seared through his right hind leg. Volteer fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Now Aaron saw his chance as he bolted towards the large forest surrounding the small, excavated area that the Cheetah Village lay in. With amazing agility, Aaron grabbed the top of the small-ish fence and pulled himself over it. He looked behind him as Hunter did the same. "Where are you going?" Hunter called.

"Far away from here. I can't afford to be in a place near other dragons where I could bring so much pain and suffering." Aaron explained, his breath heavy as he sprinted off into the forest.

"You didn't have to shoot Volteer down like that though. You just made it worse for yourself." Hunter said.

"I know, but the way Volteer was going, he would destroy most of the Cheetah Village, and I couldn't get out without doing that because Volteer would just cut me off my track, keeping me stuck in the Cheetah Village. Now that I'm gone, no more damage should be caused to the Cheetah Village." Aaron explained.

Hunter looked at Aaron with shock. "You shot Volteer to protect the village?!" Hunter exclaimed. "That is one of the most reckless things I've ever seen anyone do! But… also one of the bravest."

There was a loud flapping of wings as Volteer leapt into the air, flying high over the forest and chasing after Aaron and Hunter in hot pursuit. Blood streamed down his yellow scales, the arrow sticking out of the leg. "Hunter, step away from the ape now!" Volteer ordered.

"Not on your life!" Hunter shouted back.

"He'll shoot you! He's got a bow!" Volteer replied.

"That I _made_ for him! Volteer, Aaron is my _apprentice_!" Hunter shouted.

"You have an _ape_ as your _apprentice_?!" Volteer roared.

"He's not an ape, and I will protect him! Don't make me fight you, Volteer! I _will_ fight you if I need to and right now we're on opposite sides, and the more you attack, the more the need arises that I _have_ to fight you!" Hunter responded. "I don't want to fight a dragon, especially after what went down with the war two years ago, let alone _you_!"

"Don't aggravate him!" Cynder called from the distance, flying up behind Volteer. "No one is acting like themselves! The possibility of another ape has become too much for the Guardians and General Icebreath to handle! Terrador and General Icebreath just had a brawl earlier this evening!"

" _What_?!" Aaron shouted, picking up the pace as he realised that he had gotten the calmest guardian incredibly angry. Aaron didn't want to take his chances.

Volteer suddenly dived, landing into the forest. Aaron let out a shout as he ducked and dodged several bolts of crackling electricity. Each bolt hit a separate tree, causing the large trees to topple over and crash down in front of Aaron, slowing his sprinting down. Aaron breathed hard as he tried to dodge falling rocks and trees as splinters and dust flew everywhere as Volteer kept attacking. Aaron was afraid to look back at Volteer as he thundered towards him. Aaron was surprised he was outrunning the dragon, but then again, Volteer was an adult, so he was quite a large dragon, and the trees got in his way, so he spent most of his time and energy knocking them over. Aaron could hear Hunter and Cynder desperately trying to calm the agitated and panicked electric guardian down, but nothing would work. Aaron tried to block all the sounds out of his head. _Just think of it like the bullies at home. It won't be any more dangerous than it is at home._ Aaron thought before groaning. _Oh, who am I kidding?! A_ dragon _is attacking me!_ Of course _it's going to be more dangerous!_

Aaron dodged another falling tree, but this time, he wasn't so lucky as to escape the onslaught of splinters that rained down on him. Aaron winced in pain, but kept his focus on the road ahead as he continued to run forward.

Suddenly, Aaron had a moment of bad luck as he tripped over a rock, slamming into the ground. He looked behind him as Volteer let out a shout of determination. Aaron braced for the impact as a bolt of electricity hit Aaron, sending him flying. Cynder gasped at the sight of the explosion, and Hunter's arm instinctively grabbed a hold of his bow. Aaron landed on the ground, sliding backwards along the grass and rocks, scraping his hands on a few sharp plants that stuck out of the ground. Aaron attempted to get up but he was hit by another bolt of electricity. "DIE, APE! GET OUT OF OUR LIVES!" Volteer roared.

"Volteer, he's not an ape!" Cynder shouted as she landed behind Volteer and leapt at him, pinning the electric guardian to the ground.

The impact from the attack knocked another bolt of electricity out of Volteer's massive jaws. Aaron let out a shout as everything seemed to go in slow motion for him. Aaron watched as the electricity shot towards him. He closed his eyes and winced as the lightning hit the ground just in front of him, but the force of the explosion was enough to knock Aaron back into the air. As he soared through the sky, his head slammed on a low tree branch. He was knocked over as he began his descent with his stomach pointing at the ground instead of his back. Aaron tried to flip himself over again but it was too late as he skidded along the ground. Groaning as Aaron got up again, he realised that the impact and skidding on the ground had drawn blood on his face and left arm. He wiped as much of the red liquid off the right side of his face as he could, but the blood was produced really quickly, and Aaron eventually gave up on trying to wipe it off as he knew it would just continue to bleed, as the wound was large and deep. He groaned in pain, and then let out another shout as Volteer _still_ came after him. Aaron watched as Hunter and Cynder ran after Volteer, and Aaron saw Hunter's expression change from one of determination to one of shock and fear. "No! Not the hole!" Hunter shouted.

Fear gripped Aaron's chest, constricting his breath out of him. He looked behind him and saw the mountain as well as the large cliff that led down to the ape city. He looked back at Volteer, whose mouth was already glowing with crackling electricity. Cynder gave out a loud scream of protest, but Volteer had already released the bolt of lightning.

Aaron's vision went black.

* * *

 **Volteer attacked Aaron, and now he's been knocked out. What next? I hope you're enjoying this, and there'll be more to come. Might be slow, with assignments starting up, and I've just finished writing a hell of an action sequence that I've just got regular filler-type chapters, and they're hard to write immediately after a huge action sequence. Oh, and by the way, I've hit 110 000 words on** ** _Broken Perceptions_** **, so it's a big story. Got a lot to go through.**

 **And if you have any suggestions, I can't guarantee I'll be able to put them in this story particularly, given how far ahead I am with the story (and I want plenty of content ready to upload in case it takes a long time for me to finish a chapter), but I'm working on another** ** _Legend of Spyro_** **fanfic (it's much more darker/violent/bloodier, mind you, and chances are, it might end up being rated M), so I might try and work some of your suggestions into that story. Some might not work if they directly involve Aaron, but I'd still love to see how you'd like this fanfic to play out.**

 **Anyway, that's enough from me – I've rambled on for** ** _way_** **too long, especially before the chapter. So I guess I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	17. Chapter 16: Into the City

**Ugh, this chapter is pretty horrible. I said that with last chapter as well, but a lot of these middle chapters I'm not happy with, but I don't really know how to change the content to make it better, so most bits will be very similar to how I originally wrote them. I'm not too happy with the next two chapters either, so enjoy those if you can. A bit of a longer chapter with Aaron waking up in the ape city next, so yippee.**

 **Before we get onto the chapter, I just want to say I'm amazed with how many people responded on last chapter.** ** _Eight_** **reviews! That's the most any of my chapters has gotten, and only within about 24 hours, probably less. I'm glad you all are enjoying this, and I probably won't be able to respond to all of you if this keeps up, because this kinda surprised me, but I will respond to a few reviews before we continue.**

 **A guest has asked if I could end up bringing the military into this (they kinda want a bit of a dragon massacre). I already have most of the story already written, and the human military doesn't play a part in the story, probably because it doesn't exactly fit. I have been playing with ideas for a sequel with the dragons heading into the human world (that'd be something** ** _very_** **different), but I feel it is kind of unnecessary. I might try and work on it if lots of people like that idea, but apart from that, it is almost definitely a no at this point for that idea. As for the massacre bit, I've got a little something planned, so sorry 'Gameguy95' and 'Derick Lindsey', there will be a bit of death in this story. But action sequences with deaths are bangers, so be prepared. There's a big action sequence coming soon (in ten chapters' time, I counted), so prepare yourself.**

 **'XCOMPhantom' has also brought up some points about this story that I think is kind of interesting. They said that my human character, Aaron, mainly exists just to find a way home, not one of the overused human characters who befriends all the heroes of the story to become the 'Chosen One' and ultimately, the hero of the story. Aaron is not like that at all. And he's got no transformation or special power, just a simple bow, so that changes things up as well. As for the apes, well, you'll see a lot more about them, but they are more 'neutral' characters of this story (I used quotation marks for a reason there), and they will play a huge role come the action sequence coming in ten chapters.**

 **And 'Fredrik the astral dragon', I wasn't expecting to see** ** _your_** **name pop up! I've seen your story in the** ** _Spyro the Dragon_** **section of FFnet, and I've been kind of interested by what's in the summary, but I haven't quite had the time to get to reading it yet, with YouTube, school, writing my own fanfic and reading other fanfics I've started (still haven't finished one I started reading about four months ago), but I would like to get to yours soon. Thanks for showing your interest, and this story will get better, I promise, so there's a lot to look forward to.**

 **With all that done (these responding sections are so flippin' long – should I stick them at the end so you don't have to scroll through a crap-ton of bold A/N before reading the actual story?) let's get onto the chapter!**

* * *

Hunter and Cynder could only watch with horror as Aaron soared into the sky and down into the hole. Hunter ran forward and looked over the hole. He watched as Aaron missed the ledge fifty metres down, and continued descending the extra hundred and fifty metres down into the ape city. Hunter leapt down into the hole, shouting with fear. He landed on his feet on the fifty-metre-deep ledge and began to climb down the ladder. But twenty metres down the ladder, Hunter looked back and lost sight of Aaron. There was a crash and some shouting. Hunter winced and climbed back up the ladder. "Is he okay?" Cynder asked when Hunter got back to the surface.

"'Is he oka…'?! _What_ are you _talking_ about, Cynder?! It was an ape!" Volteer scowled.

"You almost killed him! And he's _not_ an ape!" Cynder shouted.

"You liar!" Volteer roared. "It _is_ an ape!"

"But…!" Cynder started, but was cut off short by Volteer.

"No buts! I see now what the real lie is." Volteer said darkly, his voice nothing but a low whisper. "It was all just a façade to hide your friendship with the ape."

"Volteer, please!" Cynder pleaded. "Please listen to me! I'll explain!"

"No! _I'm_ not the one to be explained to!" Volteer retorted. "Not only did you lie to my face, as well as Terrador and Cyril, but you lied to Spyro! You lied to your boyfriend! Who _does_ that?!"

Cynder suddenly felt an utter sense of betrayal grip her. She lowered her head sadly as a few shuddering sobs shook her body. She looked down at Hunter to see him looking just as depressed as her. "He didn't make it, did he?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know, but I also don't know how much trouble he's going to be in if he _did_ make it." Hunter said dryly.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked.

"Down there in that cave is an ape city. And I mean _real_ apes. Not that human that Volteer dares to call an ape." Hunter said.

"So the apes _are_ back…" Cynder cried, realisation gripping her.

"That ape has betrayed us. He's gone back with his kind." Volteer said darkly.

"HE'S NOT AN APE!" Cynder shrieked.

The dark purple dragoness looked at the shocked faces of Volteer and Hunter at her outburst. Volteer was the most shocked. "Cynder, are you feeling okay?" Volteer asked. "I know you have a bit of a short temper, but you've never been _that_ angry just out of the blue!"

"No, I'm _not_ feeling okay, but I should be asking the same question to _you_!" Cynder scolded. "While it is annoying, you have lost your ability to say large words, you are panicky, and you just went predator against that human you just attacked!"

"It's an _ape_!" Volteer argued.

"AARON IS NOT AN APE!" Cynder screamed.

"Oh great, so the ape has a name now. You're bonding too much with it." Volteer said.

"I will rip your face off if you call Aaron an ape one more time." Cynder deadpanned.

"Stop calling the stupid ape by its name!" Volteer shouted.

Volteer roared in pain as his jawline suddenly became soaked with blood. He looked at Cynder in disbelief, his blood stained on her right claws. "I meant it, Volteer. Shut it." Cynder ordered.

Volteer's cheeks flushed red as he spoke with anger. "Don't give me orders, Cynder! I am your elder, and you should…!"

"You're not an elder, you're a guardian if I should make that clear." Cynder interrupted. "And I still don't care if you have more authority than me just because you are older than me and because you have the title of 'guardian'! You and the other guardians are going mad! JUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHAT TERRADOR DID EARLIER THIS EVENING!"

"Can you keep it down? We're trying to sleep! We can hear you from down here, you know?" a young, whiny voice said, causing all eyes to look at the hole where Aaron had fallen down.

A young ape about the age of four years old had peeked up over the hole. When it caught sight of the dragons, it gasped in fear and ducked below the rock face. Even Cynder and Volteer gasped in shock. "I'll handle this one." Hunter said calmly as he began to take a few steps forward.

Hunter heard extra footsteps behind him and whirled around to see Volteer with a paw extended forward. "Volteer, I don't like telling you what to do as much as I liked having to threaten you when you threatened Aaron." Hunter said firmly. "Trust me, I hated doing that. But I'm serious. Stay. Put. Cynder, make sure he doesn't move."

Volteer immediately spluttered when he felt something constricting his paws. He looked down at them to see his paws trapped inside his shadow, rendering the large electric guardian unable to move. He and Cynder watched as Hunter stepped towards the hole towards the underground ape city with calmness and care.

Hunter could hear the young ape's shuddering breaths. Hunter got on his knees and leaned over the edge of the rock face to see the young ape gasp in fear, pulling its knees closer to its chest. Hunter immediately tried to calm the ape down. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Hunter convinced.

"What about the dragons?" the ape asked.

Hunter could tell by the voice that the ape was a boy. "They won't hurt you. I promise." Hunter swore.

Volteer scowled, before receiving a disapproving look from Cynder. He winced in pain as he felt his shadow creeping up his leg, trapping him even more. "Okay, okay! You can stop!" Volteer whispered.

Cynder stopped, but only when the shadow had reached Volteer's knees. Cynder gave Volteer a mischievous grin as she looked back at Hunter's direction as he began to climb down the hole. The ape gave out a loud whimper, but Hunter gently shushed the ape. "It's all okay. We won't do anything to you." Hunter said soothingly. "We just want to know what happened to our friend."

"W-w-we haven't seen a-a-a-anyone else around here ap-p-p-p-part f-from apes." the young ape stammered.

"Our friend's only just fallen down this hole. We don't know what's happened to him." Hunter explained. "You may have heard the crash. I think that was him."

"Oh. O-o-o-okay. I could go and ask someone i-i-i-if they know anything." the ape said.

"Do you mind if we come with you?" Hunter asked.

"Only if you promise not to do anything." the ape whimpered, referring to the dragons.

"I'll go talk to them." Hunter said, climbing back up the ladder and towards the dragons.

"Do you expect me to go down there with a bunch of horrid little apes?!" Volteer whispered, his voice hoarse.

"They're not horrid. It's obvious they've changed." Hunter replied with a deadpan. "I'm going in, and I'm pretty sure Cynder will be coming as well. That means you'll _have_ to come."

"Why?" Volteer groaned.

"We can't have you going back to Warfang and blabbering about all this and raising concern and violence!" Hunter scolded. "We can't afford more violence after the war, even though it finished two years ago. We can't trust you!"

"He's right, Volteer. And to stop you attacking the apes, I'll have to restrain you with your shadow." Cynder explained with a grin.

"Come on, Cynder! This shadow thing is creeping me out! Don't continue it!" Volteer pleaded.

"It'll only be on your claws, tail and mouth, Volteer. And if you manage to break free and attack anything I will see to it that you stop." Cynder threatened.

"Okay, okay!" Volteer said.

Volteer _was_ going to continue speaking, but his jaws were clamped shut as the head of his shadow dissipated and reformed around his jaws. Volteer could only make muffled, unintelligent noises as he tried to protest.

"Alright, young ape. We're coming. Don't worry, Cynder won't do anything to hurt you, and she's got Volteer restrained as to prevent him causing trouble." Hunter said. "Lead the way down."

"Cynder? The Terror of the Skies is here?" the ape asked.

Cynder immediately flinched. "Okay, could you please not call me that? I hate that name and everything associated with it." Cynder groaned.

"Sorry. That's the only thing we knew of you. We didn't see any more of you after you were converted to the young purple dragon's side." the ape apologised.

"That's alright. Just don't call me that again." Cynder said.

"I won't. I can't say the same for the other apes." the young ape replied.

"Get prepared, Cynder." Hunter deadpanned.

 _I will… I'm not looking forward to this…_ Cynder thought. _But we need to get Aaron back._

"We're coming, Aaron." Cynder said quietly as she entered the deep, dark cave.

* * *

 **Yeah, this one wasn't my favourite. We'll get to Aaron next chapter, and I think that chapter's 'alright'. 'Alright', I say. Not as proud of it as some of the other chapters I've written, but that's probably because I've progressed a lot in my writing skills. But Chapters 5, 7, 11 and 13 are my favourite chapters of what I've uploaded so far, so eh. Much more better stuff is coming, I promise you. And I've just finished writing something very special (and out of my comfort zone with my writing) in Chapter 48 as well. But if that's too long to wait, I had a little go at it earlier in Chapter 41. Still too far away? Too bad – it'll leave you guessing.**


	18. Chapter 17: Arriax

**(Not sure what happened there; I uploaded the chapter in the Doc Manager and it gave me a whole bunch of HTML, so I had to reupload it... it's fixed, though!)**

 **I have no idea how I wanted to start writing Chapter 49, so I actually haven't written anything since I uploaded Chapter 16, but I figured with this story almost at 5000 views (I'm really surprised – I got an extra 1000 views within two chapters), I would just post this one. Like I said last chapter, I'm not too happy with this chapter, or the next one, but starting from Chapter 19 is when things _really_ start to get good. So some really good stuff is coming, and a _lot_ more action as well.**

 **In response to 'LoNeWoLf', I want to say that I've never heard that saying 'Holy meerkats' used before. I had a bit of a laugh, I must admit – it was different and really funny. Anyway, onto your review, I want to say that it's not just Cyril, Icebreath and Volteer that will get some harsh treatment in this story. Almost every dragon that is in this story will have something happen to them. I'm not going to say when and what, but you can expect something to happen to them in the future.**

 **And I got a PM from a user by the name of 'Viper001', and I'm not sure whether it was a complaint or a kind of shocked statement, but he mentioned to me that this story is kind of a dark _Spyro_ fanfic. Dark is kind of what I'm going for with this. While it's not the darkest one on FFnet, it's probably _one of_ the darkest fanfics. But this story will get darker as things progress and more problems start arising. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. I know what I write isn't for everyone, especially darker, more violent pieces of writing, but it's what I enjoy, and other people do as well. But this story isn't the darkest _Spyro_ fanfic I'll write. I'm also working on another one (I plan on making it a five-part series) that is going to be much, much darker than this, with much more violence and gore, to the point where it'll probably have to be rated M, depending on how much violence/blood I include and what type of themes I'll use. Romance isn't my thing, though, so don't expect to see any in it. If I do include romance in that story/series, it'll be limited to T-rated romance, because I'm not too into romance, and mature romance gets yucky _real_ quick, and while I know others are into it, I, personally, am not, so don't expect it from me.**

 **Anyway, another huge rant over, let's see how Aaron is doing in the ape city.**

* * *

Aaron's eyes opened slowly. Pain flooded into his head and he immediately reached out to touch his head, feeling hard, crusty blood on it. He felt pain all throughout his body next, and he found that he was scratched, bruised and bloody along the arms and legs, and part of his shirt had been torn up. He looked around and found himself in a destroyed wooden hut. _Where… where am I?_ Aaron thought before suddenly remembering where the pain had come from and where he was. _I'm in the Dragon Realms. Volteer attacked me and that caused my wounded head. But… where_ exactly _in the Dragon Realms am I?_

Aaron suddenly began to freak out as he realised he was without his bag. Again, realisation came to him. _That's right. I left it in the Cheetah Village. That's my new home until I can get back to Earth. I'm lucky the cheetahs were as accepting as they were._ Aaron thought. _Hang on, where's my bow and quiver?_

Aaron realised he didn't have them with him. The main reason why he knew this was that he was lying flat on his back and the quiver that would normally have been hung around it wasn't there. If it was, it would have made an uncomfortable lump underneath Aaron's back. He tried to stand up and move his head around, but his vision blurred instantly and he fell back to the ground with a thud. Aaron groaned as he put his hand to his head.

Whispers filled his head. He couldn't make out what they were saying or who was speaking, but it was whispering nonetheless. Aaron yawned and his ears popped, making the whispering clear.

"What is it?"

"It looks sort of like us."

"Is it an ape?"

"It can't be. We don't know how to use… whatever these are."

"A bow. We don't know how to use a bow."

Aaron squinted and his vision cleared. Three apes stood about two metres away from him, stuck in conversation. Aaron gasped and let out a scream as he realised he had fallen into the ape city. Aaron scrambled backwards, cutting his palms on the broken wood underneath him, which he supposed he had broken on his fall down the hole. One of the apes slowly walked towards Aaron, careful not to cut its feet on the sharp splinters sticking out of the broken wood. Aaron let out a fearful cry again as he felt the wall behind him. "Don't worry, whatever you are. We won't hurt you." the ape said.

Aaron closed his eyes and braced for impact, completely ignoring the words that had been said. Aaron put his hands up in defeat and shivered. "But you're apes. You're known to be… you know…" Aaron stammered, his voice shuddering.

He winced as he felt the ape's furry hand touch his shoulder. But it was a soft, gentle touch. Aaron looked up, his vision completely clear, and saw the ape, a male, kneeling down in front of him and wiping the dust off his shoulder. A genuine smile stretched across the ape's lips, his bottom fangs pushed clumsily in front of his top lip. "We've changed, now. Malefor taught us a lesson when he cursed us. Now we're completely different to what we used to be." the ape explained, his smile widening as he stood and extended a paw. "My name is Schagorath. What's yours?"

Aaron's eyes flickered from Schagorath's paw to his vibrant blue eyes, which was odd for an ape because the eyes used to be a sickly, pale yellow. The pupils were normally tiny and slitted, but these were large and playful. It almost reminded Aaron of the way the eyes of the dragons in _How to Train Your Dragon_ worked, how they thickened and thinned in a similar way to the way the apes' eyes seemed to. Except the apes' pupils were permanently large. Aaron took a deep breath and took Schagorath's paw and answered, "Aaron. M-m-my name's Aaron."

"Nice to meet you, Aaron. I don't believe I've ever seen your kind around here before." Schagorath said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm human, and I come from another world. I have no idea how I got here; I just appeared here." Aaron explained, chuckling. "It was odd, but it wasn't like I didn't know the place."

"You've been here before?" Schagorath asked.

"No." Aaron answered.

"Then… how do you know of the Dragon Realms?" Schagorath questioned.

" _The Legend of Spyro_." Aaron said. "There are many myths and legends back on Earth, and _The Legend of Spyro_ is one of them."

"Spyro, huh? Then you know very well what we used to do." Schagorath said dryly. "I must tell you, we are no longer like that. We learned our lesson well from the receiving end of Malefor when he cursed us."

"No wonder why it came as a shock to you that we were surrounding you." one of Schagorath's friends said.

"Oh! Let me introduce you to my friends, Norak and Karrivorn." Schagorath said, pointing to his friends, one of them male and one of them female.

They each waved at Aaron. Norak was the male and Karrivorn was the female. Aaron hesitantly waved back, unsure what to do in the vicinity of apes. Aaron then caught sight of his bow and quiver in Karrivorn's hands. "Uh, can I have my bow and quiver back, please?" Aaron asked.

Karrivorn made a confused look, cocking her head sideways a little. Norak rolled his eyes and pointed at the items in Karrivorn's hands. "The bow and quiver." Norak said plainly, exaggerating his voice like it was obvious and pointing at each respective item, as his blazing orange eyes widened like he was punishing a child.

"Oh!" Karrivorn shouted in understanding as she leapt forward quickly and handing the bow and quiver back to Aaron. "Here you go."

Aaron, still concerned about being with apes, took the bow and quiver, without saying thank you, and hastily put the quiver around his back, keeping his arrow in his hand. "Don't mind us. We don't know much about bows and stuff. We've always been terrible at archery, so we've never really had a part in any of it, meaning most of us don't know what a 'bow' and 'quiver' is." Schagorath explained with a chuckle. "We were always close combat fighters."

Aaron turned to Karrivorn and gave her a nervous, but thankful smile. "Now how do I get out of here?" Aaron asked.

"Leaving so soon?" Norak asked. "You're kind of cool!"

"Really, Norak?" Schagorath groaned, turning around and glaring at the other male ape. "We only just met Aaron!"

"Okay! Sorry!" Norak cried, putting his hands up in defeat. "He's different, that's all!"

Karrivorn gave a chuckle at Norak's outrageous, yet humorous behaviour. Aaron looked to Karrivorn and saw that her snout was a lot shorter than the male apes' were, and her eyes were large and violet. Aaron realised now that the apes' features were the opposite of what they were before. They were calm and smooth, their eyes vibrant and caring, and females covered a lot of the ape population now. Aaron supposed that the females were hidden safely during the war so that the apes' numbers could grow.

Aaron smiled slightly knowing that the apes had changed. He looked at Schagorath and Norak, who were arguing playfully and childishly, while Karrivorn struggled not to burst into laughter as Norak knocked Schagorath to the ground as they wrestled. Eventually, Karrivorn grabbed the two male apes and pulled them apart, fake anger evident on her face. "Compose yourself in front of the newcomer! He's a guest, remember?!" Karrivorn practically yelled in their faces.

"Sorry." Norak apologised, looking down at the ground.

"Sorry, Aaron. I should be more responsible. I am the oldest out of all of us, after all." Schagorath apologised, bowing his head.

"By four minutes!" Karrivorn scowled before turning to Aaron with an apologetic look on her face. "Ignore my twin brother and his friend. They're a bit… weird sometimes."

"It's alright, I guess… the human society back on Earth was a little odd as well. _Is_ … a little odd." Aaron corrected, before correcting himself again. " _Very_ odd."

Schagorath scoffed. "Well, do you want to have a look around?" he offered.

"If it won't cause too much trouble." Aaron said.

"You'd technically be 'having a look around' if you were getting out of here anyway. You've landed in the middle of Arriax." Norak explained.

"What's 'Arriax'?" Aaron asked.

"You're _in_ it. Arriax is the city." Karrivorn replied.

Aaron nodded with understanding. "Alright, lead the way." Aaron said.

Schagorath, Norak and Karrivorn led Aaron out of the destroyed house, which Norak said was his house (Aaron suddenly felt really bad about it), and they led Aaron around Arriax, through the alleys and streets and meeting several more apes. He had forgotten the names of most of them, except Marlia, a female ape who made berry pie for a living (she had given half a pie for Aaron to try, and he liked it a lot, so he was given the other half), and Norak's older brother Pazakore, who was quite skilful at building, for an ape, and was the lead builder in Arriax. Norak told Pazakore that Aaron had wrecked his house, and Pazakore cracked up laughing, to Aaron's surprise. Pazakore explained that he had always told Norak that he was bad luck, jokingly, but that was the first time that something like that had happened to Norak. The funniest bit was, however, that Pazakore had just said that to Norak about an hour before Aaron came crashing down on Norak's hut.

Aaron quickly noticed how busy Arriax was, despite how late it was. There were hundreds of apes walking around the city and greeting Schagorath, Norak and Karrivorn. Some even got into conversation with them. Some even got into conversation with _him_. Aaron felt strangely at home in Arriax. He smiled as he remembered how strikingly similar this was to the ape society in _Dawn of the Planet of the Apes_. But he knew he needed to get back to the Cheetah Village. Still, without mentioning a word about the Cheetah Village, he followed Schagorath, Norak and Karrivorn out to the edge of Arriax where there was a ravine there. The ravine flowed with a rushing river of water. The apes sat down, and Aaron sat down next to them. "Isn't it beautiful?" Karrivorn said, looking out into the ravine which was slightly lit up by the lights of Arriax, fading into black as the ravine crept on.

Aaron nodded in agreement. The ravine was large. The ravine was approximately fifteen metres wide and forty metres high. Glowing plants shot out from the ground, giving off an eerie blue glow along the ground of the ravine which seemed to go on forever. The river was about three or four metres wide as it rolled down into the deep, dark ravine with a soft trickle. The water continued to roll down the ravine as the rocky ground rose up and created a high ledge above the water.

"On the occasion, being the mischievous eighteen-year-olds we are, we would often jump in and swim down to see the end of the ravine before getting lost and discovering that we were unable to swim back up the river, so we have spent about three hours trying to get back here." Norak chuckled.

Aaron grinned, but stayed quiet. "This is also where we get our main water source from. The water's clean and the source is almost everlasting." Karrivorn said. "It's probably some of the best tasting water in the Dragon Realms."

Again, Aaron stayed silent. "You don't talk too much, do you, Aaron?" Schagorath asked.

"Not particularly. I was always pretty quiet, but I would be happy to talk when around friends." Aaron explained. "This is all just a bit new to me. I'm in a new world and everything you thought you knew about everyone in the Dragon Realms is different."

"' _Everyone_ '? You don't mean just us?" Karrivorn questioned.

"If you're wondering, a dragon did this to me." Aaron explained, gesturing to the cuts on his body which had dried out, the blood creating hard scabs.

"Really?! A _dragon_ did _that_ to you?!" Schagorath exclaimed. Now he was interested.

"Yeah. _None_ of the dragons were too pleased to see me. They all thought I was an ape, like you guys." Aaron explained.

"Ah, they still think we're those bloodthirsty _monsters_ that we used to be." Schagorath growled, baring his fangs with frustration. "I can see why they thought you were one of us. We do look _sort of_ alike."

"Which dragon was it?" Norak asked out of curiosity.

"Volteer." Aaron deadpanned.

Schagorath's jaw dropped. "How'd you get the optimistic motor mouth to do _that_ to you?!" he exclaimed.

"I don't know. We've met before, but that was under controlled circumstances. He just saw me and… lost the plot." Aaron said, shrugging.

There was silence for a while between Aaron and the apes. The only sound was the loud commotion in Arriax, which was a fair way off, possibly about a hundred metres away, and the soft trickling sound of the river. After two minutes of sitting and staring into the ravine, Schagorath stood up. "Well, do you think you've had a good enough look around, Aaron?" Schagorath asked.

"What do you mean? Why?" Aaron asked.

"You were wanting to go back to where you came from, weren't you?" Schagorath replied.

"I guess so, if that doesn't bother you too much." Aaron said.

"It's all up to you. You can leave in the morning if you want. It's quite late." Schagorath offered.

Aaron stood up, followed by Norak and Karrivorn. "I'll be good. I didn't have to come that far to get here." Aaron said, before adding, "Although Volteer's attacks causing me to fly, slip, and slide everywhere did most of the work for me."

"Alright. We'll take you back to the ladders and you should be alright to climb out." Karrivorn said, smiling.

"Let's go, then." Aaron said. "And I'll try and come back for a visit if I can."

"That'll be gladly appreciated. It's been fun spending time with you." Schagorath said.

It wasn't long before Aaron and the apes made it halfway through the city. Arriax was only just starting to calm down as the apes began to go home to go to sleep. Aaron looked around at the quiet streets that were untouched by swarms of apes. Aaron spun around as he looked at the scenery so he could get a better view. He suddenly noticed that the apes had stopped in their tracks, all looking up. Aaron was about to turn around to see what was behind him, but Schagorath spoke quickly, stopping the action. "Just walk slowly back towards us." Schagorath whispered.

Aaron crept forward towards the apes, not wanting to know what was behind him. Instinctively, however, Aaron looked behind him, and jumped, letting out a shout as he leapt backwards, standing beside Schagorath, Norak and Karrivorn. A large yellow dragon stood with his back turned towards them. Volteer turned around at the sound of Aaron's shout and made a shocked muffled sound due to his shadow that clamped his jaws shut. His claws and tailblade were covered in shadow as well. Cynder, who was standing next to Volteer, turned around and gasped. "Aaron, step away from them." Cynder said, baring her fangs.

The apes began to cower. "Hello, Cynder, miss… Terror of the Skies, miss… um…" Schagorath stammered. "Sorry…? Lovely day…? Um… what else do I say?"

Aaron recovered from his shock and instantly ran in between the dragons and the apes. "Cynder, calm down! It's alright!" Aaron shouted. "They won't hurt you!"

"But they're apes! And they could have hurt _you_!" Cynder said. "It looks like they have!"

"You're getting the wrong idea. All these wounds were from Volteer's attack and my collision with Norak's hut. I'm serious, the apes are different! They've changed." Aaron said. "They've shown me around Arriax for the past hour or so and the apes have completely changed since the war."

"Y-y-y-yeah!" Norak stammered. "Malefor taught us a valuable lesson with his curse, and we know what darkness can do. We learned that we were on the wrong side of the fight, and when Malefor died and we were freed, we began to turn on our old ways of peace; before the war, when he turned us to his side."

"I believe them." Hunter said, walking out from around the corner next to Cynder and Volteer. "I saw an ape earlier this morning, and I saw a complete change in its demeanour. Even walking through here, Cynder and Volteer may have been too blind or occupied to notice, but I noticed all the change within the ape species."

Volteer's jaws shifted uncomfortably in his shadow, and he tried to speak, making odd, unintelligible mumbling sounds. "I'm sorry, Volteer. What was that, now?" Cynder teased, a nasty smile appearing across her lips.

Volteer snarled at Cynder as he tried to speak again, but once again, only immensely mumbled speech came out. "Volteer, I'm not going to let you out of there until we leave the city. You're too dangerous given what you did to Aaron earlier." Cynder scolded.

Aaron looked at Volteer as he made another attempt to speak, sounding very flustered and frustrated. Volteer eventually gave up and looked at Aaron. Aaron saw the remorse in his eyes. It was genuine remorse, too. _Volteer is actually sorry for what he did? Unbelievable._ Aaron thought.

"If he wants to talk this badly, I'm sure you can free his jaws for at least a few seconds." Hunter groaned.

Cynder gave Volteer a sceptical look. "Oh, fine. But only a few seconds." Cynder said.

Volteer sighed as his shadow floated down from around his jaw. The shadow floated back down and reconnected with the rest of his shadow on the floor as his shadow's head reappeared. Volteer opened his mouth and heard his jaw pop quietly. "I'm sorry. I see now that I was wrong. About everything. Hunter was wrong. I wasn't blind to the changes that have occurred in this ape city. They _are_ different. Just simply looking around and watching them live their lives in peace and comfort was enough to make me realise that. And I see now that… Aaron… or whatever his name is, is completely unlike what we originally thought of him. I am terribly sorry, and I hope you can all forgive me." Volteer apologised. "I just can't believe I lost it like that. I almost became like Terrador."

"Don't remind me." Cynder said sternly.

"You… you apologise to me?" Aaron asked.

"Yes. I hope you can forgive me." Volteer pleaded.

"Consider it done." Aaron said, smiling.

"So, wait, what happened to Terrador?" Karrivorn asked.

Aaron and Hunter shrugged. "We only heard that Terrador got into a fight earlier today. Not the details." Hunter said.

Volteer looked at Cynder and saw her cringing at the horrible memory of Terrador and General Icebreath's brawl. "Terrador attacked General Icebreath. They both drew immense amounts of blood from each other, and Terrador got so riled up he released an earth fury." Cynder explained.

Aaron winced. "They're freaking out with me being around, aren't they?" he asked.

"I don't know, but that's what I think. They're all of a sudden so easy to anger and anxious about everything. Volteer has been getting incredibly panicky recently and he's given up on his use of large dictionary words. I believe that his panicked state was why he attacked you." Cynder explained.

"Ah, dammit." Aaron groaned.

"So, Volteer, with all that said, you… you're technically on our side, now?" Hunter asked.

"I… I guess so." Volteer said, shrugging. "Our perception of Aaron was completely wrong. He's not what he seems."

"Thanks, Volteer." Aaron said.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Warfang now? It's quite late." Hunter asked.

"Oh! Right!" Volteer cried. "We still need to get Terrador and General Icebreath to an infirmary!"

"Yeah, we should probably go." Cynder said sheepishly.

"We should head back to the Cheetah Village." Hunter said.

"Alright, see you later, guys!" Schagorath said. "Feel free to visit anytime!"

* * *

 **Bit of a longer chapter, so hopefully that got you kind of interested… kind of… The apes will play a much bigger and important role later in the story, hence my introducing them, so you'll see a lot more of them, especially Schagorath, Norak and Karrivorn, later on in the story.**

 **We'll return to Cynder and Volteer in the next chapter. I'll try and get back to work on Chapter 49, not really sure where I want it to go, so hopefully I can get more progress and finish _Broken Perceptions_ so everything's ready for uploading, then I can start working on the other _Spyro_ fanfic I started in May last year. Anyway, until then, goodbye, and have a good day!**


	19. Chapter 18: Arguments

**Another chapter. Managed to finish Chapter 49, and it turned out much better than I thought it was going to be. I really should be slowing down, shouldn't I? The last four or five chapters have come out almost one every day, probably. Well with school on, I have a little more time to work on this, since I'm not as focused with making YouTube videos (which are _much_ more time consuming and are _much_ more distracting while school's on). When assignments start up, however, uploads will probably slow down as well, and I really want to get back into doing some artworks for my DeviantArt (all the stuff I'm posting currently are old sketches I found from 2015-2017). But please note that it does take a while to write a chapter, and then I have to edit it, so I'm still taking as much time as I need. I like to make sure I'm as happy with each chapter as possible (last few ones were kind of alright in my opinion – this one is actually a lot better than I remembered it). The much better stuff starts coming around the next chapter or two, so stay tuned for that.**

 **Now to the reviews. I'll start off with 'GhostChris'. Yeah, I've noticed that not a lot of authors reply/interact with their readers. It kind of beats the purpose of reviews and asking questions, doesn't it, just to not have them get answered. Sure, you can PM message the reviewer, but guests don't have that luxury, so it's kind of not fair to them. Anyway, there'll be a lot more stuff to do with Volteer now that he's with Aaron. Like I may have said earlier, this story focuses on Aaron and those supporting him, such as Hunter, Cynder, now Volteer, and the apes. It's more so around Aaron and Cynder as such, but little important bits with other characters will be thrown in there.**

 **To 'Gameguy95', you'll find out what Spyro and the others think about it soon enough. Cynder and Volteer return to Warfang in this chapter, and meet up with Spyro, but his main inquiry is about what happened with Terrador and Icebreath in Chapter 13. As for your senses about what's going to happen, you'll have to wait and see. I'm going to start being very secretive now that things will really start to happen pretty soon.**

 **And lastly, to a guest, the first two questions you asked involves Aaron having some transformation of some sort. In the case of the questions you're asking, an ape. This story is specifically transformation-free for Aaron, so no. As for your second question, I'm not too into romance, so I probably won't end up writing too much of it, but I do have a little something down the romance department later on down the story. But unfortunately, it's not between apes. The apes have a very different purpose to the story, although you're right when you say a bit of ape romance hasn't been done before. But I'm probably not your guy for that. And for the third question, Aaron will get back home, and for his bully problem, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Anyway, on we go to see how Cynder and Volteer fare with Spyro.**

* * *

It was about thirty minutes later when Cynder and Volteer made it back to Warfang. Flying made it quick. If they were walking, it would have taken them about two hours. They rushed back to the Warfang Temple to find that it was empty. Terrador and General Icebreath were gone. Only small piles of red liquid remained where their blood had spilt onto their floor from their punctured bodies during their fight. "What? They were there when we left!" Volteer cried.

" _I_ took them to the infirmary." a voice said, causing Cynder and Volteer to whirl around to look at Spyro. "I heard the ruckus, which woke me up, and I came over here to look what happened, I found Terrador and General Icebreath lying on the ground, unconscious and wounded."

Cynder and Volteer looked at each other with worried glances. "Now tell me, who did it?" Spyro ordered.

Cynder's eyes widened with shock. Sure, Spyro had told her to do several things for the past two years, but he had never had the wits to give a _guardian_ an order. Volteer felt the need to speak up. "Don't give me orders, Spyro. I'm a _guardian_. You don't have any authority over me." Volteer scolded, causing Spyro to step back and pull his lips back, baring his teeth with a menacing snarl. "I don't care if you saved the world or the fact that you are a purple dragon, you're only eighteen. I am two hundred and forty-nine years old! _And_ a guardian!"

Cynder looked between Spyro and Volteer in shock. Sure, Volteer's words were hurtful, and she had never heard him, or anyone _else_ as a matter of fact, speak to Spyro like that, but Volteer had to stop Spyro before he got out of control.

Volteer's words, however, only aggravated Spyro even more.

"I didn't ask for you to rant about your _glorious_ title and our age difference! What are you trying to do, boast about our skill and knowledge differences because of your title and age? All I want is to know what happened to Terrador and General Icebreath!" Spyro shouted through gritted fangs.

"And all I want is for you to stop before you _lose the plot_!" Volteer explained calmly. "You've got the same problem as Terrador; you're a lot more angry than usual, and even worse, with much more mocking tones when you speak, and darker expressions. I don't know what's going on with you, but I don't like it."

"Volteer's right, Spyro. You need to calm down." Cynder added, adding extra calmness in her voice, although it was fake. She was worried beyond what words could explain.

She hoped Spyro would listen to her. The sound of her voice always seemed to calm Spyro down, and she was the only dragon Spyro would ever listen to and be passive around. She suspected that it was his love for her that drove those actions, and she hoped those emotions Spyro had towards her would be on her side. Cynder looked at Spyro with pleading emerald-green eyes.

Unfortunately, Cynder's heart fell as Spyro yelled at her. "Shut up, Cynder! I want answers, and I _will_ get them, whether I have to _force_ them out of you or not!" Spyro shouted as he lowered his head and continued speaking in a low, dark voice. "Now tell me, what happened to Terrador and General Icebreath?!"

"You won't like the answer, Spyro." Volteer said, before thinking to himself, _We won't like the reaction._

"I don't care. Just. Tell. Me." Spyro said sternly, his eyes narrowing as embers began to dance savagely around his jaws.

"Alright! Alright!" Volteer exclaimed, stepping backwards.

"The truth, Volteer." Spyro added.

"Um, well… just when Cynder, Terrador and I were about to leave the Warfang Temple, General Icebreath thundered in here and attacked Cynder and threatened me and Terrador, who completely lost it and attacked General Icebreath, and they got into a full on fight which eventually ended up in Terrador releasing an earth fury and Cynder and I had to put a stop to the fight." Volteer said nervously, slurring his words together as he spoke incredibly fast, yet Spyro still seemed to understand him. Volteer took a deep breath and attempted to speak a little slower. "It wasn't us who put the wounds on Terrador and General Icebreath. They dealt the blows to each other."

Spyro scrunched up his face. "I'm not sure I believe that, but I'll let it slide for now. I'm incredibly tired and I just want to sleep." Spyro growled menacingly.

Cynder and Volteer released a huge sigh. Spyro walked out of the Warfang Temple and closed the door behind him. When Cynder believed Spyro was out of earshot, Cynder asked in a quiet whisper, "Do you think you're ready to put up the same lie I've been putting up? About Aaron?"

"I don't want to, but if the matter comes up, I definitely will." Volteer whispered. "He's different than we think."

Cynder winced. "What's wrong?" Volteer asked.

"A rather unsettling thought just popped into my head. With the elders coming back into power, they will most definitely be ones to criticise us. And they have power over _you_ , even, so that's a problem. The elders will quickly get back into order and authority, pushing you guys down a bit." Cynder explained quietly.

Volteer nodded, his face gaining a solemn expression. "Yes, that is a problem." Volteer said. "That is rather disconcerting and upsetting to think about a problem like that."

Cynder suddenly yawned, giving Volteer a splendid view of her fangs. She felt her body tensing as she stretched outwards, her joints popping. "I should probably go home and have a rest. I haven't slept much for the past two or three days, I've forgotten how long it's been already." Cynder said, chuckling sleepily.

"I'd better head off to bed as well. It's going to be… odd in here without Terrador or Cyril in the Warfang Temple, but I'll just have to do with being by myself. Besides I'll be able to think properly." Volteer said.

Cynder giggled before opening the door and walking out of the Temple. "Good night, Volteer." Cynder farewelled.

"Good night, Cynder. See you later." Volteer replied.

Cynder left the Warfang Temple and suddenly saw Spyro disengaging from a conversation with two young teenage dragons, which Cynder recognised to be Shocker and Stonebrawler that had stopped the commotion of an 'ape' returning earlier. However, Cynder knew now that the apes were still around, but not like how they were before. She quickly rushed towards Spyro. "Hey, Spyro." Cynder said, slowing down as she reached Spyro's side.

"Good evening." Spyro replied calmly, a complete change in mood compared to how he had acted just seconds earlier. "How's life?"

"Good?" Cynder responded, unsure how to answer, put off guard by the demeanour change. "How have you been?"

"Oh, the usual. Trying to calm other dragons down about the whole ape thing, taking Terrador and General Icebreath to the infirmary and having to get angry to a whole bunch of dragons today!" Spyro said, raising his voice near the end, his sarcasm getting stronger as he spoke.

Even though Spyro was irritated, Cynder could tell that his entire demeanour had changed when he was alone with her. It was slightly unsettling. Not because of the fact that Spyro was only gentle around Cynder nowadays, but he could only do it when _alone_ with her. He had just yelled at her earlier when they were with Volteer, and now, Spyro had acted like nothing had happened between them several seconds earlier.

Feeling the need to ask Spyro about this, Cynder questioned him, "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Spyro? I mean, you've been acting strangely for the past three days since the ape came to us during the interrogation."

"Strange? Cynder, what are you thinking? I'm feeling absolutely fine!" Spyro chuckled heartily, looking at her as they walked slowly towards their stacked apartments.

"I _know_ you're not, Spyro! You're not yourself around others anymore! Not even around the _guardians_! You're angry, mocking and you speak quite dark phrases sometimes. This is all around other dragons. Yet when you talk alone to me, you're the complete opposite; your _normal_ self! Calm, gentle and caring! And frankly, I'm _sick_ of this behaviour of yours! I want the _real_ you back!" Cynder explained, before adding with dry tones in her voice, "Or a different you. Not mixed. You're yourself when you're alone with me, yet you act much like General Icebreath around others; dry, angry and scolding. I don't like it."

Spyro stopped walking at Cynder's speech and looked at her with shock. She turned around to glare at Spyro, who opened and closed his mouth clumsily. "Tell me your thoughts." Cynder pleaded. "I want to help you."

Suddenly, a burly earth dragon walked past them, his large, green, muscular body streaked with brown markings all over him, and large, curled, bronze horns that spiralled around twice. "Good evening, Spyro and Cynder. Isn't it a bit late for someone of your age to be staying up?" the earth dragon asked kindly.

"Hi." Spyro said bitterly. "And no, it's not late at all. But for your satisfaction, yes, we were just about to head off to our rooms for a rest."

Cynder and the earth dragon gave Spyro shocked expressions at his sudden mood change. Spyro spoke to the dragon with huge amounts of hostility in his voice, whereas he had just spoken to Cynder with extreme gentleness in his voice mere seconds earlier. The earth dragon had heard the calm tone in Spyro's voice when he was talking to Cynder earlier. He had the right to be shocked. "Alright, then." he said with anger in his voice, scoffing and giving Spyro a dirty look. "I was just trying to be kind. I even thought, hearing the kindness in your voice earlier, that you'd be up for a friendly chat, but _no_! You just have to yell at me and pull me away from your conversation!"

Spyro growled and bared his teeth. The earth dragon stormed away angrily with a huff, but Spyro didn't notice. "Spyro, this was exactly what I was talking about earlier." Cynder scolded. "You can't be kind to anyone, not even me when there are other dragons around."

"Be quiet, Cynder!" Spyro ordered.

Cynder scoffed, gasping with shock. Not even thinking, Cynder stomped forward and swung her tailblade around, bringing it into contact with Spyro's rear left leg and drawing a thin line of blood as the blade cut through Spyro's scales and into his soft skin underneath. Spyro groaned in pain. He looked at Cynder with a scowl on his face before looking back in the earth dragon's direction to find that he dragon was gone. He turned to Cynder, his defensive stance disappearing and the anger wiping clean off his face. He looked to his leg with concern and looked up at Cynder with confusion on his face. "What was that for?" Spyro asked calmly.

Cynder completely ignored Spyro and turned around, walking off towards her apartment. She heard Spyro pleading out to her behind her as Spyro followed her. Cynder scowled as she let Spyro's voice disappear from her head. His voice was gone for five seconds. Cynder smiled as she hoped she had managed to get the purple dragon's pitiful complaints and pleads out of her head. Apparently, the silence was only because Spyro had stopped talking. He spoke again, in more of a whine this time. "Cynder, _please_ listen to me!" Spyro whined, making his voice sound childish.

"Just stop, Spyro! I've had enough! If you want to talk, we'll do it in the morning!" Cynder snapped, whirling around and glaring at Spyro. "You're changing, Spyro. Everyone's changing. I don't like it! It's too much for me to handle!"

Spyro scoffed. " _Everyone_ changes over time, Cynder." Spyro chuckled. "You yourself should know that."

"THREE DAYS, SPYRO!" Cynder roared. "IT'S BEEN THREE DAMN DAYS AND _EVERYONE_ IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! NOBODY CHANGES THAT MUCH IN SO LITTLE TIME!"

Spyro reared backwards with shock at Cynder's outburst. Sure, she normally had a bit of a bad temper, but she had never gotten angry at him before. "What have I done to make you so mad, Cynder?" Spyro asked.

Cynder let out a muffled scream through gritted fangs as she leapt into the air and flew out of Warfang, landing in the soft grass outside the city and lying down in the silky plantation. _I'm sleeping here tonight. I can't stand Spyro right now._ Cynder thought.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep. She smiled as she dreamt of the days in the past two years after the war had ended. Everyone was happy and there was peace everywhere. Spyro was himself, and there was no violence between the dragons. But suddenly, as Cynder dreamed, the calm, pleasant dream turned into a horrific nightmare.

She heard the sounds of metal clashing, pained and dying screams, with dragons' roars thrown into the mix. Cynder saw everything blur around her as smoke filled her nostrils, and shouts entered her ears. Suddenly, she saw what looked like Aaron lying on the ground. Cynder couldn't see properly with all the smoke and her blurred vision, but it clearly looked like Aaron was unconscious, lying on the ground with red liquid pouring out of his body. Above Aaron, stood Spyro. Cynder cried out to Spyro, who whipped his head around to glare at her with glowing white eyes.

Spyro lunged, and Cynder woke with a panicked scream. She suddenly felt her body still. She knew she had been thrashing out on the ground and crying out in protest. Cynder looked around and suddenly leapt backwards when her vision cleared and she saw Spyro and Shocker standing in front of her. "Are you alright, Cynder? You seemed in a bad way when we found you about a minute ago." Spyro said. "Shocker and I tried waking you up, but it didn't seem to work until you woke up naturally."

"So Shocker's like your best friend or something?" Cynder asked sarcastically. "You two seem to hang out a lot."

"Enough with the sarcasm, Cynder!" Spyro growled. "I'm just trying to be nice!"

"Well try harder." Cynder spat. "I'm stressing out with the rate everything's changing."

Shocker sighed wit relief. "So Stonebrawler's not the only one." he said. "Stonebrawler's decided he doesn't want to be around anyone lately."

Cynder stood up, scowling. "Well Spyro's acting the oddest. And I honestly don't really feel like being around him while he's being like this." Cynder said angrily.

"What in the world do you mean? Spyro seems pretty normal to me." Shocker argued, giving Cynder a death stare.

"You haven't seen him at his worst recently. He can't speak normally to anyone apart from me, and he can only speak calmly to me when we're alone." Cynder explained to Shocker. "Which means when around other dragons, Spyro will even yell at me, and then when we're alone he'll turn around and act like nothing's happened."

"Are you sure? I don't recall acting like that." Spyro chuckled.

"Yeah… he's been calm around me and Stonebrawler, too. And to top that off, why in the ancestors' names would Spyro yell at you? After all, you two are… you know…" Shocker said, trailing off as to not be awkward.

Cynder looked at Spyro, who had shot her a nasty look which Shocker didn't see. Cynder stuck her tongue out at Spyro, who overexaggerated and made a big deal out of it. Shocker, however, didn't see the sarcastic tone in Spyro's reaction. The purple dragon stepped backwards and reared, making his voice go whiny. "Cynder! Why would you do that?! That's so _rude_!" Spyro exclaimed sarcastically, a glint of malice in his vibrant purple eyes.

"I agree. That was quite nasty to do what you did to your boyfriend." Shocker scowled, virtually repeating what Spyro had just said.

Cynder gasped in shock, spluttering. "Shocker, just because Spyro is four years older than you doesn't mean you should listen to everything he says! Dragons of our age, teenagers, are known to be quite stupid until they reach their twentieth hatch-day." Cynder explained. "That makes _some dragons in particular_ quite untrustworthy."

"Are you calling me stupid, Cynder?" Spyro asked bitterly.

"Not exactly, but I'm faintly implying that you could be." Cynder retorted, causing Spyro to gasp sarcastically again.

"Why would you insult my friend like that?!" Shocker shouted, stepping forward and glaring angrily at Cynder.

"He's not just _your_ friend." Cynder snapped.

"Oh, that's right. He's also your _boyfriend_. Insulting him like that just makes it _worse_!" Shocker shouted.

"Spyro, you're not being such a great role model to this young teenager." Cynder warned.

"I act how I want to act, Cynder! He's not doing anything to me!" Shocker snapped.

"You're sounding like angry-stressed-out-Spyro!" Cynder said.

"Shut up!" Shocker scowled as he released a bolt of lightning at Cynder.

Cynder leapt out of the way, causing the bolt of electricity to slam into the wall of Warfang with a crackling explosion. Cynder lowered herself into a battle stance as she shrieked, releasing a siren scream at Shocker. The visible red sound waves hammered into Shocker with full force as the young electric dragon shouted in fear and fell to the ground, clutching his head and shaking vigorously. Exasperated, Cynder leapt into the air and flew off into the distance, leaving Spyro to help bring Shocker back to a healthy state.


	20. Chapter 19: Competition

**A guest has asked me if with 49 chapters done (50 now), I would post two chapters per day instead of one. I personally think that would kind of be rushing it, and it'd be slightly annoying for the followers' inboxes getting two notifications each day (maybe, I don't know). Plus, I want to take my time on the story and to be able to work as much on the later chapters as possible, and when I'm done that, I upload one of the earlier chapters. Who knows, I might end up doing a lucky day with two chapters, but chances are, that might not happen.**

 **'LoNeWoLf' has also created, in his exact words, an 'Idiot Hit List' of all the characters that have tried to attack Cynder or any other dragon character. They're not necessarily 'idiots' as such, but they are a little stupid for letting their stress get the better of them, and allowing themselves to act brashly and violently. And there's something a lot more interesting in play with these characters, as I may have already said earlier, and as 'bryan mccloud' predicted. And as of last chapter, we can kind of cross Volteer off the list, as he's joined Cynder and Aaron. Maybe. We'll have to see if he deserves to be crossed off the 'Idiot Hit List'.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Aaron released the drawstring, sending the arrow soaring through the air towards the bullseye. All eyes watched with anticipation. With thwack, the arrow landed in the dead centre of the target, and cheers erupted through the crowd. "He got a bullseye! This is amazing!" the announcer cried. "He's not a cheetah and yet this human seems to have skills that rival our own!"

As he walked backwards to the large hut where all the competitors were, and was congratulated by the majority of them. Aaron smiled. The Annual Cheetah Archery Competition was today, and Hunter had made sure that Aaron signed up. Aaron had made it into the semi-finals, as did Hunter. They were separated in the draws for the semi-finals, and they hoped that they'd be able to go up against each other in the finals match-up, but Hunter was up against one of the best archers in the cheetah tribe, Rordrow Archurus. He was a large, muscular red cheetah with large fangs and a scar across his right eye that he changed the story of every time he was asked about it. Rordrow was tall for a cheetah, standing a full twenty centimetres higher than most other cheetahs, reaching just over two metres. Rordrow wasn't particularly happy about Aaron's performance in the competition, seeing as Aaron wasn't even a cheetah. The other cheetahs, however, even the ones competing and the ones that had lost to him, were very impressed by the human's skills.

"Great job, Aaron." Hunter said, walking up to Aaron as they shook hands.

"Thanks, Hunter. Good luck against Rordrow, by the way." Aaron replied.

Hunter chuckled. "Thanks. I'm sure I'll need it." Hunter said.

"You sure will." a gruff voice butted in as Rordrow walked past Aaron and Hunter, elbowing Aaron in the waist. "I know I will win against Hunter here, and when I go up against you, human archer boy, I will demolish you so much you won't even know what came at you."

"Just ignore him. Rordrow's always been full of himself." Hunter said. "Just stay calm."

"Yeah, that sort of behaviour isn't new to me at all. It happened all the time back on Earth." Aaron replied, shrugging. "Plus, I don't expect myself to win against him. I'm just a simple human. Archery is your thing. Most of us humans have lost our touch when it comes to archery."

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Hunter said.

The announcer spoke up. "The semi-finals and finals will commence this evening. We will give the semi-finalists time to rest and regain their strength over the next two hours. Take it easy, archers, and remember, be good sportsmen." he said. "Oh, and before we leave, it looks like Chief Prowlus has something to say."

All eyes turned to the announcer's direction as Chief Prowlus walked up towards the announcer and began to speak in a loud voice. "Thank you everybody for participating. I'd like to congratulate everyone who made it as far as they did, and, although I don't like to admit it, even Aaron, Hunter's apprentice." Prowlus announced, speaking Aaron's name with a little more harshness than the other things he said. "Good luck to everyone. We will see you all this evening."

And with that, the onlooking cheetahs burst into loud conversation as some of them left to go home for a rest or towards the competitors' hut to go and congratulate the competitors that had competed. Rose, the red cheetah that had helped Aaron during Volteer's attack, as well as her father, Clawroutser, who was one of Hunter's friends, walked up to Aaron and Hunter and congratulated them on their progress in the competition.

"Congratulations on getting to the semi-finals, Aaron and Hunter." Clawroutser said, running his paw through his bright orange fur.

"Thank you, Clawroutser." Hunter said, smiling.

"Surely Hunter's made it to the semi-finals before, right?" Aaron asked.

"Hunter usually makes it up to the semi-finals but he's never been able to get to the finals." Clawroutser explained. "This is the first time he's gone up against Rordrow, though."

"Yeah, that's a little unfortunate for me." Hunter said with a chuckle. "But Aaron on the other paw, this is an amazing achievement! This is the first time a non-cheetah has ever entered this competition, let alone get to the _semi-finals_!"

Aaron smiled. _Well, I must have been taught well in school when we did it for sport, or I must have just learned and listened well. Maybe I remembered well. I don't know. I was always the best in the class in archery._ Aaron thought. _I was told I was good at archery back at school, but I don't remember really trying that hard; I didn't enjoy it. I love it a lot more now. Probably only because I'm doing it with Hunter, though…_

"Well, I wish you two good luck in the semi-finals, and the finals if one or both of you make it." Rose said.

"As do I. We'd better head off home now so we can get ready to watch the semi-finals and the finals. See you guys later this evening." Clawroutser farewelled.

Aaron and Hunter said goodbye to Clawroutser and Rose before packing up their stuff and heading back to Hunter's hut. Aaron and Hunter were greeted with many smiling facing of cheetahs as they congratulated them, especially Aaron, for making it into the finals of the Annual Cheetah Archery Competition. The majority of the cheetahs had accepted Aaron into their village, including Chief Prowlus (who'd done it very reluctantly, however), and Aaron felt very much at home in the Cheetah Village. Aaron had even made it into a friend group with some older teenage cheetahs, all in between sixteen and nineteen years old. That made Aaron the oldest (by about one year), but he managed to make some good friends in the two days he had been in the Cheetah Village. In fact, it was that group of cheetahs that actually suggested that Aaron tried signing up for the Annual Cheetah Archery Competition when Aaron showed them his archery skills; they were extremely impressed that a non-cheetah could be that good at archery. Aaron had turned down their suggestion, before Hunter _made sure_ he signed up for the competition.

Aaron was surprised at how much had happened in his six days in the Dragon Realms. While it had only been six days, he had already made friends with dozens of cheetahs, as well as Cynder and Volteer, _and_ had become Hunter's apprentice. He had also discovered that the apes had changed. The thing he wasn't so happy about, however, was that his appearance had shaken the dragon race in a very bad way. He didn't want to be the cause of dragons changing how they act, and he _especially_ didn't want to be the cause of large brawls like what happened to Terrador and General Icebreath, which Cynder had told him, Hunter, and the three apes he had stumbled across about.

So much had already happened to him that he decided, even though he wouldn't want to remember the bad moments, that he should keep track of everything that had happened to him in the Dragon Realms. After all, it had always been his dream to see the iconic dragons in the flesh, and he had never thought it was possible, and when it did happen, the events happened in the opposite way to which he had hoped it would go. So, when Aaron got back to Hunter's hut, he grabbed out his pencil case and a notebook that he _would_ have used if he actually made it to university that day, and opened the notebook to the back and began writing all the events that had happened.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked as he followed Aaron into the hut.

"Just keeping track of everything that's happened. It's always been my dream to come here, although I know now that this world is much more complicated than I once thought it was." Aaron explained with a chuckle. "So much has happened to me within these six days, especially yesterday, I felt I had to write it on paper to get a better grasp of what had happened and when everything happened."

"Yeah, a _huge_ amount happened yesterday, thanks to Volteer." Hunter chuckled. "But he is on our side now, so there's no need to worry about him."

"But we _definitely_ need to worry about the 'angry dragons' if we end up running into them." Aaron clarified. "Especially Terrador. I'm worried about him, even though he hasn't cared much for me at all."

"I think a lot of people are worried for the _entire dragon race_. Everyone has changed so much. The three days you've been in the dragons' lives, or four, or however many it is, has been enough for dragons like Terrador, who are normally calm, collected, and have clear thinking, have turned into brash, enraged, reckless and foolish dragons. You heard what Cynder said had happened between Terrador and General Icebreath." Hunter said.

"Yes I did. And that's _exactly_ why I'm worried." Aaron said, before going quiet.

Aaron closed his book and put it in his bag that was lying underneath his hammock. He suggested that he and Hunter take a short nap to restore their energy and thoughts so that they could compete well and think concisely.

It wasn't long before Hunter had managed to fall asleep, but Aaron was unable to get to sleep, as his thoughts about what was going on kept him awake. It was a lifelong dream of the little five-year-old Aaron to see Spyro in real life, but as he grew older, Aaron had realised that such an event would be impossible because Spyro was a completely fictional character. Yet here he was, in the Dragon Realms, in Hunter's hut in the Cheetah Village, _and_ , even more surprising, was friends with Cynder and Volteer. It annoyed him that he and Spyro couldn't get along, but he hoped that he and Spyro could become friends, or at least acquaintances. After all, _Volteer's_ viewpoint of him had changed. But Spyro's viewpoint was a lot stronger and filled with more anger and energy than Volteer's. And Spyro's viewpoint was completely different.

An hour passed before Aaron couldn't take lying on his hammock without sleep any longer. He got off his hammock and began pacing around in small circles on the floor, careful not to wake Hunter. He looked out the window behind his hammock and saw the large sun beginning to set, the sky turning a fiery orange. The vibrant colours reminded Aaron of the fireballs that Pyra had shot right at him during his second day in the Dragon Realms. The memory frightened him. Despite how nervous and frightened Pyra was, she was a lot scarier in comparison to the tiny human, but Pyra was only frightened because she thought Aaron was an ape. The massive dragoness, however, was over two and a half times Aaron's height, and huge when her length was put into the picture. The massive jaws that released those blinding streams of fire were incredibly fearsome, and although Aaron tried to hide it the best he could, it showed quite a lot. Aaron wished now that he could have shown all of it. According to the dragons, apes weren't meant to be scared. They _couldn't_ be scared. The only thing they were scared of was Malefor's wrath, which they received upon Malefor realising they were planning to betray him, but 'worried' was probably a better term for it. If he had shown all the fear when Pyra had attacked, maybe the situation would be a lot better for him. Aaron had hidden almost all of his fear, and he groaned inwardly, thinking, _Look at where that put me. Now everyone thinks I'm an ape, just because I 'wasn't scared of a dragon'._

But he stayed staring out the window for another thirty minutes, and then decided to wake Hunter so they could get ready for their last round or two of the Annual Cheetah Archery Competition. "Hi, Aaron. Did you get enough rest?" Hunter asked.

"I couldn't get to sleep, but I did manage to rest and think on my thoughts. It's probably better off I stayed awake as to prevent us sleeping in." Aaron replied.

"Good thinking." Hunter said with a chuckle, getting out of his hammock and grabbing his bow and quiver, stuffing two or three dozen arrows into it. "You ready for the end of the competition?"

Aaron grunted, nodding. He picked up his bow and quiver and put some arrows in his quiver that Hunter had given to him. Hunter chuckled proudly. "You're doing really well, you know that, right?" Hunter asked.

"I do, thanks to all the cheetahs going on about 'how good a non-cheetah is at archery' and all that stuff." Aaron said with a small amount of sarcasm in his voice.

Hunter picked up the sarcasm and frowned. "Sorry about that. It's just that no cheetah has ever seen a being of another species rival our own archery skills." Hunter explained.

Aaron chuckled. "You'd be surprised back on my world, although most of us use things called guns, which are a little easier to use than a bow and arrow, and they require less space as well." Aaron replied. "But guns are much, _much_ more dangerous…"

"You'll have to tell me later, Aaron." Hunter interrupted. "As much as I would like to know about what these 'guns' are, we're going to be late for our rounds if we stick around chatting for much longer."

It didn't take long for Aaron and Hunter to get back to the large arena. A somewhat large, roaring crowd greeted them, the sound incredibly deafening for only a couple hundred voices. The announcer also roared out his announcement, trying to make his voice come out over the droning, indistinct roar of the crowd. "Please welcome Hunter, the cheetah who helped save the world from dragon conflict, and Aaron, the rare, non-cheetah archer!" the announcer boomed, causing the roaring cheers to increase in volume.

Aaron and Hunter walked up to the competitors' hut, where Rordrow and Archer, Aaron's opponent, stood, waiting for them. Archer was the best archer in his age group of twenty years of age, the youngest age a cheetah could sign up for the competition. Archer was a very optimistic cheetah, his hide bright yellow, complimenting his ongoing cheerfulness. Archer wished Aaron good luck, while beside him, Rordrow scoffed loudly. "Hey, you should wish your opponent good luck, as well. It's rude not to." Archer said.

"I don't take orders from anyone. Only myself." Rordrow snapped, his deep, gravelly voice causing Archer to reel back in shock at the suddenness and volume in his voice. "Plus, I need to get my fifth win in a row. Only I can afford the good luck, even though I don't need it."

Archer leaned over to Aaron and whispered so Rordrow couldn't hear, "He's very arrogant. I hope he loses."

"Everyone, get ready for our first match between Hunter and Rordrow!" the announcer boomed. "Archers, please take your places!"

* * *

 **The next few chapters are around the competition, and to be frank, I'm quite surprised at how well I wrote them (I didn't think I'd be able to do that well at it but I did, so surprises all around for me). After this competition is when things _really_ start to get interesting. About three chapters until things go a little crazy, and seven chapters until the first major action sequence, so we're getting close to the good stuff! Stay tuned!**


	21. Chapter 20: Skills

**He he… I want to thank 'bryan mccloud' for noticing an error in the last chapter, and so I've fixed it, and it should be how it was meant to be. But as for his question about who the antagonist is, you'll have to wait and see. I'm going to be a lot more secretive now that things are starting to happen, so don't expect full answers from me as such.**

 **And thank you to 'Divine the Withered Soul' for your words of encouragement. It is very different to a lot of the stuff on FFnet, and I hope that the other one I'm working on will live up to this one, although it's slightly more generic in the fact that it only has to deal with the dragons and other creatures in the Dragon Realms; no human interaction is involved in the other fanfiction I'm working on.**

 **Anyway, the competition begins in this chapter, and Hunter goes up against Rordrow. Let's see how this goes, shall we?**

* * *

With a loud roar like a lion's, Rordrow stepped forward out into the arena, eyes studying the target in the distance. The crowd roared, and Rordrow smiled, loving the attention. He set his bow down on the ground and flexed his large muscles, causing them to bulge out of his red fur-covered skin. Rordrow laughed deeply as the crowd chanted his name. He flexed again as the crowd erupted into more cheers.

Aaron looked beside him and saw Hunter, looking down at his feet with his lips brought tightly into a straight line. "Hunter, you'll be okay. Good luck, and do your best." Aaron said, putting his hand on Hunter's back. "Trust me, they said that all the time at school. It really helps. Now go out there and show them what Hunter can do!"

Hunter looked at Aaron and a thankful smile crept up on Hunter's lips. The cheetah grabbed his bow and quiver and walked out into the arena, a small, determined smile on his face. The crowd cheered, but it was significantly quieter for Hunter than it was for Rordrow. Hunter felt the frown creeping across his mouth, but then heard Aaron's voice in his head. _Good luck, and do your best. Now go out there and show them what Hunter can do!_

Hunter's smile disappeared, and was replaced by an intimidating look of determination. He stood in his spot, studying his target with intent. Just when he thought he had done, the announcer spoke again. "Now, since this is the semi-finals, the competitors won't only have to aim at the one target, but there will also be three moving targets! There are two arrows allowed for each, as opposed to the normal five that we've normally given for the main target!" the announcer boomed.

Hunter felt his body slump forwards. He hadn't expected this; they changed up the rules for the competition's semi-finals every year. He knew he couldn't stand a chance against Rordrow, but this just made it worse. Now that there were moving targets, it made everything a whole lot more complicated.

"I'm sorry to say this, Hunter, but I'm going to smash you." Rordrow muttered quietly, before widening his eyes and gasping sarcastically. "Oh, that's right! I just forgot, I'm not sorry at all."

Hunter rolled his eyes and waited on the countdown.

"Nock an arrow to the drawstring!" the announcer boomed, and the large crowd went silent.

Hunter blotted everything out of his mind except the announcer's voice and the immense silence. He even somehow managed to blot out Rordrow's impatient growling beside him, despite them being only five metres apart.

"Pull back!" the announcer shouted.

Eyes narrowed and gaze fixed on the target and its surroundings, Hunter pulled the drawstring back and flexed is fingers along the bow as he got a better grip, his paws sweating under the pressure. Hunter tried to ignore the few gasps and sighs that went out quietly among the crowd as Rordrow pulled his drawstring back, his muscles bulging out of his arms again.

"Fire when ready!" the announcer thundered.

Hunter was the first to release. The arrow sailed through the air. The yellow cheetah watched with intent at the arrow. With a loud thunk, the arrow slammed into the target about a hundred metres in the distance. It hit the outer ring of the target. Hunter groaned with frustration and stamped his foot on the ground, whipping out his last arrow for the target.

But suddenly, as Hunter aimed, a target popped out of the ground to the left of the still target, moving up and down quite quickly. Hunter glanced over at Rordrow. The red, muscular cheetah still hadn't fired his first arrow. In fact, his bow was lowered, and he was watching Hunter with discrimination, a nasty smile pulling at Rordrow's lips, revealing a row of long fangs.

"What's this?! Rordrow's lowered his bow!" the announcer exclaimed. "Is he trying to study Hunter?!"

 _He's trying to distract me. Wear me down. Put pressure on me._ Hunter thought, before taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

Hunter glared menacingly at Rordrow, his lips pursed tight in a small, thin line as he turned his gaze back on the moving target and drawing the drawstring back, aiming. There was silence, except for the sound of the moving target grating against the ground. Hunter's eyes narrowed, and he felt his muscles tensing.

Hunter released the drawstring, sending his second arrow soaring through the air. It whizzed towards the steadily moving target, which was rising and falling in perfect timing and synchronisation. The arrow sped underneath the target, slamming into the ground as the arrow lost air. Again, Hunter growled in frustration. Not at his miss this time, but at the fact that Rordrow was chuckling loudly next to him.

"Hey, cackle-buff!" Hunter jeered, causing Rordrow to stop laughing and glare menacingly at Hunter. "Why don't you pay attention to your own game?! You _do_ know you get disqualified if you're not in action for five minutes!"

Rordrow snarled at Hunter, baring his teeth. The mean red cheetah opened his mouth, about to speak, but the announcer interrupted him. "Hunter _does_ make a pretty good point there, Rordrow! You've been out of action for two and a half minutes!" the announcer boomed.

Rordrow roared in frustration as a small smile tugged at Hunter's lips. He knew he'd taken a while to aim properly, especially with all the pressure put on him. Hunter was a lot better at archery when he was either alone, or in a battle. A competition put too much stress on him, even more so than in a battle, which if he said that to other cheetahs they'd think something was wrong with Hunter. After all, a battle with an enemy was a fight for your life, as well as the lives of others. A competition was a friendly public event where archers could compete against each other without any harsh punishments like a loss in a battle, which normally result in death or imprisonment.

What Hunter didn't expect though, was for Rordrow to turn to his still target (his moving targets hadn't popped up yet), pull back, aim and fire almost immediately after the announcer had said that. Rordrow's arms moved swiftly, as did his arrow, as it sped through the air…

…landing in the bullseye.

The crowd erupted in cheers. "There! I shot an arrow, _and_ landed a bullseye! Now I get an extra five minutes, don't I?!" Rordrow shouted.

"Rordrow _also_ makes a fair statement. The rules only state that you get disqualified if you're not in action for five _consecutive_ minutes, meaning that Rordrow has another five minutes to be idle!" the announcer roared. "It looks like Rordrow's taking this round slowly, which is a bit unlike him!"

 _He's probably trying to rub it in my face._ Hunter thought. _No. Don't think like that. Be clear and concise. You're up against Rordrow. You can't get flustered and distracted. Concentrate._

"Go ahead, clumsy shot." Rordrow taunted. "You've got six arrows left, and not anything _close_ to a bullseye!"

"Lucky shot." Hunter mumbled as he pulled out another arrow and put it to the drawstring, pulling it back and aiming for the motionless target, wanting to get that one out of the way quickly.

He landed a bullseye…

…but not on the motionless target.

The second moving target had popped up moving side to side in front of the motionless target, obscuring the perfect aim of it. Hunter's aim for the bullseye of the still target was off, but he was just lucky that the second moving target had moved into the path of the arrow. Hunter groaned inwardly, knowing now that his chance at getting a bullseye on the still target would be a lot harder.

Still aiming for the motionless target, Hunter pulled back the drawstring and waited for the perfect time to release. He saw that the moving target slowed as it reached and left the edges of its path. As the moving target passed its midway point, Hunter released the drawstring, sending the arrow speeding towards the two targets. The moving target slowed, hitting the rightmost edge of its side-to-side path, speeding up again as it moved speedily to the left. The arrow shot past the moving target as it hit its leftmost edge of the path, and the crowd erupted into cheers.

Another bullseye, this time on the motionless target, but only just.

Hunter heard Rordrow growling beside him, and there was the sound of an arrow landing on a target. Hunter looked beside him. Rordrow's first moving target had popped up, and he had landed a bullseye on it.

Hunter looked back at his targets; the third moving target had popped up, moving up and down evenly on the right of the still target. Hunter only had two targets left, and two arrows for each of them. He felt his breath go hard. _No, Hunter. Stay calm. You can do this._ Hunter thought.

 _Hunter, you'll be okay. Good luck, and do your best._ Aaron's voice echoed in Hunter's head. _Now go out there and show them what Hunter can do!_

Hunter's frustrated scowl turned into an emotionless, determined expression, his mouth nothing but a thin line as he breathed sharply through his nose with determination. "Oh, don't worry, Aaron. I _will_ show them what I can do!" Hunter said through gritted teeth, mainly to remind himself that Aaron believed in him.

With a loud shout, Hunter whipped out an arrow and put it to his drawstring, pulling it back. Concentrating hard, his expression a strongminded glare, Hunter studied the movements of the target on the left, moving up and down. Hunter released his arrow, and landed his last available arrow for that target in the dead centre of the target.

With that, Rordrow lost all concentration on Hunter's performance, growling and breathing heavily as he whirled around and concentrated on his own game, his chest shuddering along with his breaths. Hunter knew that Rordrow was now flustered, but Hunter couldn't dwell on that thought, as he needed to play his own game.

Hunter turned and looked at the only remaining target of his left. He had two arrows remaining, his third useless now that he had landed a bullseye first try on the target that moved sideways in front of the still target. He grabbed his second-last arrow, resting it on the drawstring as he pulled back and aimed.

Unlike the other moving targets, this last one moved irregularly, putting Hunter's judgement off. He scrutinised the target intently, unable to focus as he heard two impact sounds beside him. He didn't bother looking, but he heard the announcer shout in disbelief, followed by deafening cheers that erupted from the crowd.

"He's done it! He's landed a bullseye on everything!" the announcer exclaimed. "Rordrow wins! Four bullseyes with four arrows, and Hunter only has three bullseyes with five arrows!"

Hunter hung his head low in embarrassment as the crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Beside him, Rordrow began roaring loudly and gleefully, flexing his muscles as he did so. Hunter felt his features pull into a disgusting, hateful sneer. He almost immediately hid his expression; he'd never felt that way before, nor did he like feeling it. He hoped no one saw the expression, and he sure hoped Aaron would win against Archer, and then against Rordrow. Rordrow was getting too full of himself, and Hunter didn't like it. Sure, he'd lost before, but he'd never lost in such an embarrassing way.

Stomping forward to collect his arrows at the announcer's command, Hunter tried to tell himself he performed amazingly well, but he just couldn't with Rordrow boasting and flexing a couple metres away as he, too, went to go and collect his arrows. When he finished, he walked towards Rordrow after taking a few calming deep breaths, and tried to be friendly with the boasting red cheetah. Holding his paw out, Hunter smiled at Rordrow and said, "That was a good match, Rordrow."

Rordrow scoffed and slapped Hunter's paw away, not even saying a word to the exasperated yellow cheetah. No one seemed to notice this act. Hunter growled inwardly and walked towards Aaron in the competitors' hut. "Hey, Hunter." Aaron said, standing up from his seat and walking towards Hunter. "You did really well. I didn't really expect extra targets to be thrown in this. And I know how much pressure was put on you, I've had that happen a lot back on Earth. You performed really well."

"Thanks. Good luck for your round with Archer." Hunter said. "Good luck to you too, Archer."

Archer stood up from his seat next to Aaron's and lowered his head with respect. "Thank you, Hunter." Archer thanked.

"Now, I'd… I'd better head up to the crowd. I'll be watching your match to see who goes up against that ghastly red show-off." Hunter said, walking out of the competitors' hut and leaving Aaron, Archer and Rordrow alone.

Rordrow walked towards Aaron and Archer, extending his hand out to the two of them. "Good luck, you two. I look forward to see which one of you two I will be demolishing, but I sure hope it is the human archer boy." Rordrow said deeply.

Aaron shoved Rordrow in the chest, a small amount of anger bubbling up inside him. "You best be quiet, you show-off. I expect you to show respect to Hunter, alright? He's a lot better than you!" Aaron scowled.

"Oh, yeah? How so, archer boy?" Rordrow asked.

"Have you ever fought in a life-threatening war like Hunter has?" Aaron questioned, raising his voice.

"No, but who needs that?! I'm a _master_ in the arena!" Rordrow shouted, his low voice rumbling through the hut.

"The arena is for _entertainment_! When war breaks out, things become a lot more serious, and people need to start fighting for their _lives_!" Aaron argued. "People are required to look out for other people, but being you, you'd just look out for _yourself_! You're _worthless_!"

"You take that back, human scum!" Rordrow replied, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Aaron and Archer, please take your places!" the announcer boomed, interrupting Aaron and Rordrow's feud.

"To be continued…" Rordrow said darkly, and he and Aaron exchanged angry glares as Aaron began to walk out of the competitors' hut with Archer by his side.

The crowd erupted into roaring cheers as Aaron and Archer walked out into the arena. Aaron stopped walking and turned to Archer, holding his hand out in front of him. "Good luck, Archer." Aaron said. "May the best archer win."


	22. Chapter 21: Sportsmanship

**Whoa, 7200 views! This story has been going well! Glad you all like it.**

 **To 'bryan mccloud', you said that the targets were too close to the contestants, but I actually said in the previous chapter that they were 100 metres away from them. I did some research, and in Olympic archery, 70 metres is actually the average distance of a target, 90 being the greatest distance in the senior men's events. So the targets in this cheetah competition are actually _further_ away from the contestants than those in the Olympics.**

 **And to 'LoNeWoLf', as well as still 'bryan mccloud', I wanted a cheetah character who was so full of himself and didn't understand dangerous circumstances like war, and that turned out to be Rordrow. He doesn't really appear again, because his purpose is really served here.**

 **Anyway, Archer and Aaron go up against each other. I'm pretty sure you can predict who'll win.**

* * *

Archer looked at Aaron's hand and smiled, taking it as they shook hands (or paws). They parted ways as they took their places, staring at the lone, motionless target in front of them; the others had been lowered after Hunter and Rordrow had taken their arrows out.

"Nock an arrow to the drawstring!" the announcer boomed, and the crowd went silent yet again.

Aaron concentrated hard as he whipped out his first arrow, nocking it on the drawstring. _You can do this, Aaron._ he told himself.

"Pull back!" the announcer shouted.

Aaron brought the drawstring back as far as it would go, his muscles tensing and his eyes burning with determination. He took deep, calm breaths and focused on the target in front of him.

"Fire when ready!" the announcer thundered.

In perfect synchronisation, Aaron and Archer released their hold on the drawstring at exactly the same time. The arrows sped through the air, landing a bullseye on both their respective targets. The crowd erupted into cheers, and Aaron and Archer looked at each other and smiled.

Aaron knew that Archer was good from watching Archer's previous matches from the competitors' hut, but he hadn't seen him perform up close before. It was intriguing. Archer's arm rushed to his quiver and he whipped out an arrow, his arm moving in a swift, elegant circle. Archer stuck his tongue out and closed one eye as he studied the new target that was moving up and down. Archer released his second arrow, which hit the second ring from the outer edge of the target. The crowd groaned in synchronisation.

Archer readied another arrow, and that was when Aaron decided he needed to play his own game. Aaron quickly readied another arrow, pulling back the drawstring and aiming as his first moving target popped out of the ground. He spent about thirty seconds studying the target, in which by that time, Archer had already released his third arrow, which landed a bullseye on the first moving target. Aaron knew how to study movements, he'd done that plenty of times while studying artificial intelligence and movement patterns in video games, and he used that knowledge to study his first moving target, which was still untouched by an arrow.

Aaron then aimed, and released his second arrow, and it landed a bullseye on the moving target. He didn't see the surprised look Archer gave him, nor did he hear the majority of the crowd cheering, it was just faded, blurred out noise as he blotted the sound out of his ears as he turned to the next moving target and studied it eagerly. His eyes narrowed as he watched the target move side-to-side in front of the motionless target, slowing down as it neared the edge of its path and speeding up as it left it. Aaron quickly pulled out another arrow and pulled the drawstring back, correcting his aim, and releasing the drawstring, sending the arrow soaring through the air.

It was a bullseye. Again, the crowd erupted into cheers, and Aaron glanced quickly behind him to see Rordrow in the competitors' hut, his torso slumped forward and jaw dropped, eyes widened. When Rordrow saw that Aaron was looking at him, his face quickly went from a look of shock to a look of sheer anger. Rordrow put two fingers to his eyes, turning them around and pointing them at Aaron, before turning and stomping off towards a chair. Aaron rolled his eyes and turned back to his last target.

He heard the announcer shout with surprise. "That's three bullseyes with three arrows! Can Aaron get a perfect bullseye streak like Rordrow did?!" the announcer cried. "And Archer strikes back with a bullseye on _his_ second moving target! That brings them both up to three bullseyes, but Archer has used one extra arrow!"

Aaron's heart raced. It was pretty evenly matched. They both had three bullseyes, but Archer had used four arrows, whereas Aaron had only used three. He hoped he wouldn't mess up. He needed to get four bullseyes with four arrows. He wasn't sure if Archer was going to get a bullseye first try. Concentrating hard, he pulled out an arrow and aimed at the last moving target, which moved up and down in an irregular fashion. He struggled as he tried to figure out a pattern, thinking that it wasn't a straight-forward pattern, but a longer, more complex pattern. But there was none. He had to play it with luck and sheer skill.

Aaron heard a thumping sound, as well as the crowd groaning. Archer had hit something, but it wasn't the target at all. It was the moving post that the target stood on. Aaron grabbed an arrow and put it to the drawstring, before pulling back, aiming, and firing. The arrow soared through the air, and hit the target. However, it was not a bullseye. It landed on the second inner ring. More groaning came from the crowd. Aaron needed this. This was his last arrow he could use; his other three rendered useless now that he had already landed bullseyes on the other three targets. Aaron whipped out his last arrow and pulled back the drawstring with the arrow put to it. Every sound disappeared from Aaron's ears as he thought to himself, _You can do this. Do it for Hunter, Aaron. Show him, Rordrow, and the crowd, just what a human, a non-cheetah, can do._

The world went in slow motion as Aaron released the arrow. It soared through the air, the gap between it and the irregularly moving target closing quickly. Aaron closed his eyes and winced as he heard one thumping sound. And then another. Archer had just used his last arrow.

The crowd roared with cheering. "The human does it again!" the announcer shouted.

Aaron opened his eyes with shock, looking at his target. He had landed a bullseye. He looked at Archer's target, which had his last arrow sticking out of the second inner ring of the target. It wasn't even a bullseye. Aaron beamed with delight. He had made it to the finals!

"Aaron takes the round with four bullseyes using five arrows, leaving Archer with three bullseyes and six arrows!" the announcer roared. "Congratulations! Aaron is going up against Rordrow!"

Beaming, Aaron walked towards Archer, who stared at his targets, dumbfounded. "Archer, that was a great match." Aaron said, extending his hand. "You were amazing, you know?"

"So were you." Archer replied, taking Aaron's hand as they shook hands (or paws). "Everyone is different when it comes to their archery skills. You're really something… unique, you know that, right?"

Aaron nodded. Aaron and Archer parted, collected their bows, and parted ways. Aaron walked back to the competitors' hut where Rordrow sat, waiting for him. Archer went to the grandstands, finding Hunter near the top level of the grandstands and walking towards him.

"Hey, human archer boy." Rordrow shouted. "Good luck, but who needs it? I will destroy you!"

"If you can't speak nicely to your opponents, don't speak at all. I _was_ going to say good luck, but like you said; 'Who needs it?'" Aaron scowled, not looking at his opponent for the finals.

* * *

 **Well, Aaron's made it to the finals, and now he's going up against Rordrow. I wonder what will happen… he he…**


	23. Chapter 22: Attack!

**Here we go with another large chapter.**

 **To 'bryan mccloud', I do get what you're saying. Legolas does use melee weapons quite often despite being an archer, so it could be beneficial for Hunter. Unfortunately, the situation where I've written 52 chapters of this story comes into play again, so literally everything important involving violence and weaponry has already been written. I don't think I'll add anything with melee weapons for Hunter, but you are right in the fact that Hunter should end up learning melee weaponry. Maybe in my other fanfic I'm writing. I don't know.**

 **And to 'LoNeWoLf', we'll see what Rordrow will do coming soon, so stay tuned. This round actually lasts for two chapters so yay.**

* * *

"Finalists Aaron and Rordrow, please make it to the arena." the announcer ordered, and Aaron and Rordrow walked out into the arena, where they were greeted by cheers. "Like the semi-final rounds before, the final round will be changing up the game rules. You have until midnight to find as much prey as you can in the wild. When midnight rolls around, haul your kills here, and Chief Prowlus will judge you on how you went. If you get any big kills, haul it back here early so that you don't have to worry about losing your kill. Place your kill on your side of the arena. Fifteen extra arrows are waiting for you at the exit of the arena. You may reuse your arrows."

"A hunting challenge." Rordrow said quietly, sounding surprised. "This is the first time they've done this!"

"You can leave the arena to go find your prey in five…"

Aaron and Rordrow turned around as they looked through the competitors' hut and into the rest of the village through the entrance/exit of the arena, and beyond that, the forest.

"…four… three…"

Aaron lowered his torso, putting pressure on his legs, getting ready to sprint. _You can do this, Aaron. Just know that you're the first non-cheetah archer that anyone in the Dragon Realms has seen, and you are really surprising them. No matter what happens, you will always be a winner in Hunter's eyes._ Aaron thought.

"…two… one… GO!"

Rordrow raced ahead of Aaron, his long legs of his two-metre body carrying him speedily out of the arena. Rordrow stopped when he heard Aaron calling out behind him. "Hey, tough stuff! You forgot your extra arrows!" Aaron called from the entrance/exit of the arena.

Growling angrily, Rordrow ran back to the pile of arrows waiting for him as Aaron leapt ahead of Rordrow, taking the advantage the best he could and sprinting off into the forest. The muscular red cheetah thrust his arrows into his quiver, but held one in his paw, his bow in the other, as he sprinted off into the forest, flustered and unorganised, his legs a bright red blur as he ran into the dark forest that sat under the starry night sky.

Rordrow slowed down as he ran far enough into the forest to find something. He slowed and went into a quiet stalk, sneaking around quietly to hear anything coming out of the bushes. Rordrow's breath was hard, and he tried to breath quietly. The thought of Aaron possibly winning was a horrible thought for Rordrow, and the thought stressed him out, where his determination burst through the seams.

The show-off was slowly skulking around the forest for about ten minutes before he heard a rustling sound. His paws moved in a blur, immediately putting his bow to the drawstring and pulling it back, aiming and waiting for the creature to pop out of the bushes and tall vegetation. Rordrow's breath was hard and sharp as sweat coated his arms and forehead, his mean yellow eyes glistening in the moonlight and gazing frantically and eagerly on his aim. A large rabbit, larger than any rabbit Rordrow had ever seen, leapt out of the bushes. One look at the monstrous feline standing in front of it with a bow aimed at it caused it to freak out, and it bounded back into the bushes frantically, the arrow hitting the soil just behind it.

He walked forward to pick up his dirty arrow, and thunder began to roar. He groaned as small droplets of rain began to pitter patter on his fur. _Well that's just great. Even the weather is against me tonight…_ Rordrow thought bitterly, putting the arrow to the drawstring of the bow after he cleaned it, ready to pull it back. _I have to win. I just_ have _to. I_ need _to get my fifth win in a row. I_ will not _let all my hard work go to waste._

Another five minutes of silence went by until there was another rustling sound. A large deer leapt into view. _Yes! Something I can keep my eyes on!_ Rordrow thought, running after the deer.

Rordrow chased after the deer for about five seconds before aiming his bow at the deer's leg. He released, but the arrow landed in the mud next to the deer. It let out a shriek of fear as it began to run faster. Rordrow ran faster, too. He grabbed another arrow and put it to the drawstring, which he pulled back. Releasing the drawstring, the arrow soared through the air, and with a splat and a screech, blood squirted out of the deer's hind leg as it collapsed, unable to run, let alone stand.

Rordrow grinned as he walked up to the deer, which struggled to get up, making frantic sounds as it tried to get rid of the sadistic monster it saw before it, thrashing its hooves around violently. Rordrow knew wasting an arrow wasn't much point for a grounded deer, so he reached for his utility belt and unsheathed his dagger, holding it high above his head and bringing it down on the deer's chest. _That's one big deer. I'm sure to win with this. Who knows, we might even get a feast. I'm just interested to see what Aaron got._ Rordrow thought, chuckling as he thought of Aaron. _Surely he can't do it. He may have passed Hunter's test, but it may have just been a lucky fluke. A three-time fluke. That human archer boy can't be as good as he says he is. He's cheating or using illegal tricks. Surely a non-cheetah can't be_ that _good at archery._

Deep inside him, Rordrow doubted his thoughts a tiny bit, but shook the doubt away as he grabbed the dead deer's legs and dragging it slowly back towards the Cheetah Village. Rordrow hoped he was going to win. In fact, his mind told him that he _knew_ he was going to win. Rordrow smiled as he imagined holding the trophy above his head, with the crowd cheering wildly.

His thinking beginning to fail, his mind overcome with the thought of beating Aaron, Rordrow began wishing that Aaron got lost, or that he would lose his catch, or, even better, get wounded while going up against something big that the human wouldn't be able to try and take down anything else. He wanted to prove that the cheetah race was superior at archery. He needed his fifth win. Anything to win. His heart became so intent on winning, that he wished that Aaron would get wounded so badly that he would be unable to come to the Cheetah Village by midnight, disqualifying Aaron. He laughed at the thought. He didn't even think that he was hoping that harm would come onto Aaron. He just wanted to win.

Aaron crept slowly through the thick vegetation that was the forest. He had his bow out, arrow nocked to the drawstring, ready to strike. Unlike with Rordrow, Aaron's breath was calm and soft, taking deep breaths in and out as he concentrated on the world around him. There was nothing but the sound of the rain which fell down onto the large forest. The wind began to pick up and Aaron felt the cold hammer into his skin. _I really need to get myself a cheetah cloak or something…_ Aaron thought, shivering.

The cold rain continued to fall, Aaron was unlucky finding anything. He knew he needed to find something quickly before Rordrow could find something. Skulking around, Aaron payed as much attention on his surroundings as he could, struggling to hear the sound of something rustling in the thick vegetation over the sound of the heavy rain. Aaron tried to numb his senses so he couldn't feel the cold, nor hear the rain, but he failed to do so. He tried to ignore everything; he only wanted to focus on the task ahead of him, but alas, it didn't work.

Aaron continued creeping on, waiting. Waiting for something to happen. By now Rordrow had already taken down his deer and had begun to haul it back to the Cheetah Village, but Aaron didn't know that. Another ten minutes passed. Aaron stopped. _Was that… a rustling sound?_ he thought, a smile creeping up onto his face. _I think I found something!_

Aaron walked slowly towards the source of the sound, hiding behind a large tree and putting his arrow to his drawstring, getting ready to pull back. Then came the sound of large, heavy breathing. The huffing sound was all too familiar. It was a dragon. Aaron looked out from behind the tree he was hiding behind and gasped, whipping around back behind the tree.

The dragon's scales were yellow, but they didn't belong to Volteer. Aaron's breath sped up, and he tried to quieten the sound of the air rushing in and out of his mouth. The dragon was speaking quietly to himself, his voice filled with confusion and anger.

"This is so weird. I don't know why Cynder thinks something's wrong with Spyro. He's my friend. Even though we've only been friends for a day or two, we've gotten to know each other really well. I don't think _anything's_ wrong with Spyro. Cynder seems to think so; why else would she attack him out of the blue?" the dragon asked himself, making Aaron's face scrunch up with confusion. "And Stonebrawler, who is normally nervous, is acting more petrified now. He won't even come out of his house to come and greet me in the mornings like he normally does. I don't know what's going wrong. Even the _guardians_ are assaulting each other."

 _I knew about the guardians, but… but Cynder attacking Spyro? That's unheard of. The last time I know of that ever happening was when Cynder was corrupted by Malefor in the end of_ Dawn of the Dragon _, but that was Malefor's fault. So was the Terror of the Skies. Cynder's never attacked Spyro in her own right mind._ Aaron thought.

"And I know Spyro's been a really good friend and all, but he keeps going on about this ape that he keeps telling me about. He keeps telling me to be careful of the ape and to eliminate it on sight. But Spyro's probably going crazy, too. The apes were exterminated at the end of the war, or so I'm told. Nobody's seen a single ape since." the dragon continued.

Still breathing hard, Aaron decided that now was the time to leave. He turned to make a quiet dash out, but his arm scraped against the bark of the tree, leaving splinters and small, bloody gashes on it, causing him to wince in pain and drop his bow and arrow, which landed with a clatter on the ground.

"What the…?! I'm being watched?!" the dragon exclaimed, frantic footsteps sounding out as the dragon spun around cautiously, looking in all directions.

Grimacing, Aaron bent down to pick up his bow and arrow, but stepped on a stick, snapping it. Aaron's heart was filled with fear. A second sound would definitely give away his location. He waited for the shout as he stood up, gripping the bow and arrow tightly and beginning to step slowly into the thick vegetation where he hoped he wouldn't be seen. The slow, cautious steps of the yellow dragon was heard, getting closer each step.

Then there was a gasp.

As soon as Aaron heard the gasp, he bolted off, shouting, not daring to look back at the dragon, who let out a fearful shout as he leapt backwards. "The ape!" the dragon shouted. "The a…! That's the ape he was talking about! Spyro was telling the truth all along! Wait, what did he say? Spyro said to eliminate it on sight!"

Aaron let out another yell as he heard thundering footsteps and crackling electricity. _Please don't let this end like what happened with Volteer!_ Aaron thought, sweat caking his forehead.

Aaron ducked, sliding forward in the ground that had turned to mud in the heavy rain as a bolt of crackling electricity roared over his head. It was more potent than any other lightning shot he had seen; it rivalled Volteer's power, which he thought was odd. It wasn't long before he realised that it was raining harder than before, and since water was a conductor of electricity, the electric attack had jumped further and increased in energy thanks to the water scattering about in its way. Aaron got back to normal height, his feet slipping about in the sloppy mud. Another electric attack roared from behind him, and as he tried to duck, his body leaned to the right, sending him slipping behind a tree. The lightning shot travelled far past its original aim point and distance thanks to the roaring rain, and the electricity split into three crackling arcs, each landing into trees with a large, thundering explosion; the tree Aaron had fallen behind had fallen victim to the lightning shot. The tree exploded, splinters flying everywhere and the rest of the tree toppling down over Aaron.

Aaron barrel-rolled out of the way, covering his body with mud, and the tree landed with a slam next to him, splattering mud everywhere. Aaron knew the dragon would find him easily, and got up hastily and continued to sprint. He heard the dragon breathing heavily, but he didn't look back at the dragon. He sped up. The only thing he knew about the dragon was that it was an electric dragon, given away by the vibrant yellow scales that he had seen and the powerful electric attacks, and that he was male. Only just entering puberty, Aaron realised, as the dragon let out another shout, which cracked, the high pitch of the sound and the force behind the dragon's lungs hurting Aaron's ears.

Thunder roared, and Aaron groaned. He heard electricity crackling, and he dived for cover as another lightning shot roared over him. The electric attack collided with a lightning bolt that shot down from the sky, giving off more energy and causing sparks and mud to fly everywhere. Aaron barrel-rolled out of the way once again to avoid getting his clothes on fire as the sparks went in every direction, hailing down on the ground around him. Aaron cried out in pain as a spark landed on his arm. He thrust his arm in the mud, getting rid of the spark and its burning pain, as well as cloaking his arm in even more mud. Aaron tried to stand up, but fell back down into the heavy coating of mud. He looked like a swamp monster.

Aaron got up again, but saw the electric dragon in front of him. He let out a shout when lightning flashed and thunder roared, the dragon getting illuminated in front of him. The vibrant yellow scales blinded Aaron, and the dragon's eyes were a shiny gold. His underbelly scales were red, and his horns were blood-orange, curving outwards and then in again. The dragon's lips were pulled back in a scowl, his teeth yellow and had the faintest tint of red on them, giving Aaron the impression that the dragon had just eaten.

Shouting, Aaron grabbed his bow and arrow, pulled back the drawstring, and released, sending an arrow flying clean into the dragon's flesh as blood began to flow down the dragon's right foreleg. The dragon shouted in pain, giving Aaron the perfect chance to run. Knowing that the dragon would be hindered with a wounded leg, he hoped he would be able to get away. He hated wanting to wound dragons like that, as they had been his favourite mythological creature thanks to the original _Spyro the Dragon_ , but his survival depended on the needed violence.

The human scrunched his face up in confusion as he heard a low rumbling sound and the sound of frantic footsteps. Aaron took a glance back and saw a vibrant red glow. _Spirit gems!_ Of course _the dragon had to find some spirit gems!_ Aaron thought, speeding up.

The dragon yanked the arrow out of his leg and fully healed, before he continued his pursuit on Aaron, who ducked again as the dragon released another lightning shot. A blinding yellow explosion erupted out of the tree, sending sparks and flames spraying aimlessly in every direction. What confused Aaron was that there were _two_ screams. His own and someone else's. A voice spoke up that Aaron knew all too well. "What in the world was that?!" Schagorath asked.

Schagorath must've been out collecting something when he was unfortunate enough to be rained on, but this was just dangerous. For the entire ape race. A rogue dragon stumbling across a live ape – a _real_ ape – would be incredibly threatening. Luckily enough for Schagorath, he could not be seen. Aaron needed to get Schagorath safe. "Schagorath! No matter what you may be holding, drop it and run!" Aaron thundered. "And stay away from Arriax until you're certain you're nowhere near us!"

"Aaron?! What do you mean?!" Schagorath argued.

"DO WHAT I SAY!" Aaron roared before shouting again as another explosion rocked the ground as splinters and sparks scattered everywhere.

Aaron heard the sound of items falling to the ground, but Schagorath ran the wrong way. Instead of running into the pitch darkness of the forest, he ran right into the light given off by the moonlight, the small flames lingering on the stump that was a tree, and the electricity dancing about in the dragon's jaws. Schagorath had no idea where Aaron's voice was coming from, so he had dropped everything and ran in a random direction, which just happened to be where Aaron and the dragon were. Aaron swore and got up, hammering himself into Schagorath and knocking him into the darkness. Schagorath didn't even have to ask what was wrong before a fearful scream filled the air and a beam of electricity hurled itself at him. Aaron ran forward and grabbed Schagorath's paw and sprinting off into the darkness. The dragon followed. "A dragon _assault_?! You could have told me!" Schagorath shouted.

" _You_ try being the target of the dragon race!" Aaron snapped.

"I sort of am now that I've been seen by a dragon _other_ than Cynder and Volteer!" Schagorath replied.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Aaron roared, letting a violent curse fly from his lips as he dived on top of Schagorath, sending them both tumbling to the ground as another beam of electricity roared over their heads.

Aaron couldn't imagine what the dragon would be thinking if he heard what Schagorath had just said. The ape had just said _too much_. Now they were _both_ a target. The situation was almost as worse as it could get. The apes were now in danger, and Aaron would be known among the dragons as the one who brought back the apes to get back revenge on dragonkind. Aaron wanted to scream and attack Schagorath, but now was not the time. A dragon was hot on their trail, and they needed to do anything to stay alive.

"Split up! I'll try and lead him away, while you head back to Arriax and warn everyone there that you've been seen!" Aaron ordered.

Aaron and Schagorath got up and bolted in two different directions. The fearful and determined dragon faltered, unsure of which way to go. He was unsure whether the odd looking 'ape' was the priority, or the _real_ ape itself. The dragon settled with the real ape. It wasn't long before the sounds of the dragon's heavy breathing and footsteps quietened, and Aaron suddenly realised what was going on. He turned on his heel, spraying mud everywhere, and running back the way he came, chasing after Schagorath and the dragon. _Screw everything. Literally… screw everything._ Aaron thought as he heard Schagorath's frightened screams fill the air. Long strings of violent swear words left his mouth.

He'd never heard an ape so frightened before. They used to be rock-hard, emotionless creatures that would kill without hesitation back during the war since Malefor's rise in power, but now they were such fragile beings. They really _had_ changed.

Despite not wanting to shoot another arrow at the dragon, Aaron did it anyway. He needed to get Schagorath safe. He put an arrow to the bow's drawstring and pulled back. Upon releasing, however, Aaron's feet slipped out from underneath him as he ran, knocking his aim off as he fell on his rear end. The arrow soared through the air, Aaron's too-high aim causing the arrow to slam into the dragon's flank, instead of the leg where he aimed for. Blood splattered out of the wound, but it didn't cause that much of a problem to the dragon as the arrow didn't stick out from anywhere near the legs, shoulders or hips. It hit just to the side of the hip where the hind leg that Aaron was aiming for was attached to, and nothing important hurt, only the searing pain in the dragon's side.

Aaron growled as he got to his feet and fired another arrow at the dragon, this time hitting its mark as blood sprayed out of the dragon's hind left leg. The dragon nearly collapsed, and stopped in his tracks. Whirling on Aaron, the dragon bared its fangs and snarled viciously. "You! You really _are_ trouble just like Spyro said!" the dragon scowled.

"Run, Schagorath, run! _I'm_ the one he wants!" Aaron cried.

Without a question, Schagorath turned and ran in the direction of Arriax. The dragon payed no attention to the ape that ran out of his grasp. His entire focus was on the fake 'ape' that stood in front of him holding a bow and with a quiver slung around his back. "You're even _worse_ than Spyro thought, I reckon! An ape able to use a bow?! Unbelievable!" the dragon continued.

Aaron didn't want to argue, but he did anyway. "Maybe that's because I'm _not_ an ape!" Aaron shouted. "How many times do I have to say this?!"

"You _liar_! You apes have _always_ been liars!" the dragon scowled. "You tortured us, deceived us, killed us, and betrayed us in the terms of… _him_! I don't even want to _say_ his name, that disgrace of a dragon, but here you are, trying to feed us some lie, when you're nothing but a stuck up, horrifying, murderous _ape_!"

"I'm not an ape!" Aaron spat back. "I… am… a… _human_!"

"Humans don't exist. There's never been a race to exist that is _called_ that! And besides, _you attacked me_!" the dragon roared.

"YOU TURNED ON ME FIRST!" Aaron shouted.

Without another word, the electric dragon opened his mighty jaws and released a powerful beam of electricity. Aaron was too slow to dodge it. The powerful beam let out a blinding flash as the bolt of lightning hit Aaron's chest, sparks spraying everywhere as flames began to grow on the clothing covering Aaron's body. The human screamed in terror and pain as the heat from the fire scorched his body. He was lucky that the mud from his clothes had seeped through the fabric and covered his skin, settling in between layers and stopping the electricity from ending its course at Aaron's skin. Instead, it hit the muddy clothes that sent the electricity spraying out in three different directions. Loud, roaring explosions went up as the electricity hit several large trees. The dragon pulled back on his attack, clamping his jaws shut as Aaron fell to his knees, gasping and groaning frantically as his clothes smoked, the fire put out by the rain and mud.

Aaron made an attempt to pick his body up off the ground, but it was forced back into the mud as he felt heavy, muddy claws clamp over his body as a large mass of scales pressed down on it. Aaron's breath went hard, and he tried to get up. He began breathing through his nose, realising that his mouth was incredibly close to the mud and had almost breathed some in. The dragon's heavy breathing discomforted Aaron, and he felt the pressure on his body increase. Aaron knew he would either get out of the situation badly wounded, or dead. He didn't know which one. In a desperate cry, despite knowing that no one would be able to hear him, he let out one, roaring scream. "HUNTER!"

* * *

 **Well, Aaron's in a lot of trouble, yet again. And cliffhanger because I wanted to. It's probably one of those terrible, mean cliffhangers that everyone will hate me for, but it'll get you hooked, won't it?**

 **Anyway, bye.**


	24. Chapter 23: Consequences

**Bit of a shorter chapter compared to last one, but it's a resolution to Aaron's predicament at least, so we'll find out how he's going. Sorry I've been away for so long (four days, wow). I've had assignments due and lots of other stuff that got in the way of this, but I've finished Chapter 54, and damn, it's one of my favourites.**

 **And before I get onto answering reviews, how the hell as the last chapter got almost _double_ the views of the chapter before it?! Like seriously, 360 compared to 200… I'm not complaining, but it's _really_ odd. But the story's hit almost 9000 views (can't wait for it to be "over 9000!") and the Prologue is at 2000 views. I'm really happy with the progress of _Broken Perceptions_.**

 **Anyway, 'LoNeWoLf' is annoyed that the dragons are making life hard for Aaron. Well, considering that it's only been about four days since Aaron's gotten involved with the dragons, it's slightly excessive. But Aaron's not out of trouble yet, so there'll be more craziness coming. He'll get out of his current dilemma this chapter, but more is coming his way.**

 **And I agree with one of the unnamed guests who reviewed the last chapter. This would be a really interesting story for Aaron to tell his future children and family. To say that he survived dragon attacks and got to meet childhood 'heroes' of his, sure. The second guest is also right with how much these dragons hold grudges. But 'Gameguy95' summarised it well in his review on Chapter 14. They're having trust issues after the war with Malefor, with so much going around them, such as death and plenty of violence. And _especially_ with Cynder among them during the _Dawn of the Dragon_ timeline, despite there being no other dragons actually _in_ the game apart from Spyro, Cynder, Malefor and the guardians, but surely, they would be there. After all, what would be the point in defending Warfang back then if there were no draconic residents?**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter. We'll see how Aaron's going, shall we?**

* * *

Hunter had heard the commotion long before Aaron's wail. He had heard the first explosion given off by the dragon's lightning attacks. And seen it. Rordrow had gotten back, flexing, boasting and hurling insults at Aaron and Hunter, hauling his massive deer behind him, before he went out again to continue hunting. The cheering from the crowd was cut off as there was a distant explosion, which everyone could tell wasn't thunder, and Hunter noticed a yellow flash light up the sky. Since working with Spyro, Hunter knew an electric attack when he saw one. A distant shout went up, and Hunter immediately scrambled to his feet. Archer was confused. "Hunter, where are you going?!" Archer asked, discomforted by Hunter's flustered state.

"I need to go. Now!" Hunter shouted, leaping over the back of the grandstands and sprinting off down the stairs and out of the arena. "Aaron's in trouble!"

That one phrase made Archer worry. At Hunter's flustered state, Archer stood up and grabbed his bow, following Hunter's path. "I'm coming with you, Hunter!" Archer yelled. "I want to help!"

"We'll be up against a dragon!" Hunter shouted, not slowing down.

Archer faltered, slowing down for a fraction of a second before speeding up and catching up with Hunter. "All fine with me! As long as a fellow archer is safe; doesn't matter if he's not a cheetah!" Archer replied.

"Thank you." Hunter muttered as another explosion rumbled in the distance.

Hunter and Archer looked at each other as they ran through the heavy rain which came through the open roof of the arena, before they slammed into something and were sent hurling backwards, landing on the ground with a thud. "Rordrow?! What are you doing?! Aaron's in trouble and we need to get to him fast!" Hunter protested.

"That _loser_?! The _non-cheetah_?! I don't know what's wrong, but leave him to die, _whatever_ he's up against. He'll just be a _burden_ to us!" Rordrow scowled.

A cheetah from the crowd stood up. It was Ulfitz, a tall blue cheetah from the group of friends Aaron had joined recently. "Hey! You take that back! Aaron's a friend of mine and Hunter's apprentice! You treat him with respect, like you would to Hunter, the most skilled archer in the cheetah tribe!" the cheetah shouted.

A cheetah next to Ulfitz stood up. It was an orange cheetah, about a year younger than Ulfitz, also from the friend group Aaron had joined. When the cheetah, whose name was Horilith, spoke, his voice was low and his build large and muscular. "Yeah! I'm sick of you treating Aaron like that! _Nobody_ should put up with it!" Horilith shouted.

More cheetahs, including ones from outside Aaron's small friend group, stood up, protesting in agreement. The protests piled up upon another rapidly, and soon they became lost in a mumbled roar of protesting.

"Hunter fought alongside dragons! Treat him with respect!"

"He's the _mentor_ of that non-cheetah!"

"That human could be in grave danger!"

"How would you act if that was _your_ friend?! Let Hunter go and help his apprentice!"

"Shut up! I treat anyone how I want to, except myself, my friends, and Chief Prowlus!" Rordrow rebutted angrily, his thick voice silencing the crowd. "And if you don't remember, I _beat_ Hunter in the round _before_!"

"That was a _competition_ , Rordrow. You don't know the matter between life and death like I do." Hunter warned, standing up and helping Archer to his feet. "The war may have ended two years ago, but you were only sixteen when the cheetahs got involved in it, and by our standards, that's still a child, no matter what you say. I have seen cheetahs die. I've seen _dragons_ die."

"What are you saying?!" Rordrow scowled, his tone wavering. "My _father_ died in that war!"

"I _know_ that. He was fighting for our safety against the grublin army." Hunter said softly, stunned as he saw Rordrow falter and blink quickly as if tears were threatening to leave his eyes. It was the first time he had seen Rordrow on the verge of tears. He wasn't even this close to crying during his father's funeral. "But you didn't _see_ him die. Your father was a _great_ archer, and he fought well. I fought alongside him. But you know _very well_ what happened to him."

Rordrow nodded, looking down. "He got too cocky." the muscular red cheetah said, his voice breaking as he remembered the day the cheetah archers returned without his father.

"I know you get your cockiness and hard attitude from your father, but you mustn't let that get in the way of life and death. In battles, there is often such a thin line between the two. For example, what happened to your father. No one expected him to fall with three spears in his chest." Hunter said.

A moment of silence passed, and an explosion roared once again. Rordrow looked up, his eyes filled with uncertainty. "Go. Go then." Rordrow said, his voice low and quivering with confusion.

Hunter and Archer sprinted off into the distance as Rordrow stepped aside. Several cheetahs leapt out of the grandstands and followed suit, their bows in hand and quivers strapped to their backs. Ulfitz and another friend of Aaron's, Pralith, as well as two of the quarter-finalists of the competition, Shoral and Trelar, shouted out as they caught up with Hunter and Archer. Hunter smiled gratefully as he looked back at the four cheetahs for a split second as he ran into the forest, their fur soaking in heavy rainfall.

 _I'm coming, Aaron. I won't let that dragon hurt you._ Hunter thought.

* * *

Aaron tried again, "HUNT…!"

The last syllable of the name came out as a mess of spluttering and gurgling as Aaron inhaled mud. To Aaron's surprise, however, he heard the sound of a drawstring releasing, and watched as an arrow soared through the air, slamming forcefully into the dragon's arm. The dragon lifted its arm up in pain, freeing Aaron from the dragon's powerful hold. Aaron felt two pairs of wet, furry paws grab him by the shoulders, and Aaron was helped to his feet as he saw six cheetahs, including Hunter, Archer, and two of his friends, surrounding him.

Aaron tried to say thank you, but instead, he coughed up mud. "Take him back to the village, Pralith and Archer!" Hunter ordered, taking another bow from his quiver.

Aaron felt the two cheetahs, which he now knew were Pralith and Archer, guide him off. The human almost lost consciousness several times, and Pralith and Archer exchanged worried looks. While there had been no real damage done to Aaron except for the many bleeding cuts on his body, the shock from the lightning attack earlier had knocked a lot of Aaron's consciousness out of him. His lungs were also weak after sprinting around the forest in the cold rain for ten or fifteen minutes, as well as inhaling mud.

The four remaining cheetahs left turned on the dragon, who stepped backwards fearfully. "Cheetahs?!" the dragon muttered. "On the _ape's_ side?! Th-th-th-this is too much! I'm going to tell Spyro!"

The dragon flew up into the air, wings flapping heavily. The cheetahs knew the dragon was small; he was just over two and a half metres tall, probably closer to three, but he could have still been dangerous. They laughed and cheered as the dragon left, but only Hunter stayed silent. "What's wrong? Aaron's safe. We're safe. The dragon's left." Trelar said.

"Did you not hear what the dragon just said? He said he was going to tell Spyro. Spyro _knows_ of Aaron's existence, and thinks that he's an ape. If Spyro knows that we're on Aaron's side, and not his, we're going to get on his bad side." Hunter scowled. "We need to get back and warn the cheetahs. The dragons most likely _will_ be back. For vengeance."

The other cheetahs stopped cheering as they heard what Hunter said. Without another word, Hunter walked off into the forest in the direction of the Cheetah Village, as Ulfitz, Shoral and Trelar exchanged worried looks and followed.

They knew that this was not over. It was only just starting…

* * *

 **Well Aaron's safe, even though it was short and very crappy. Most of the action was in last chapter, so I apologise, but I had no other way I really thought of this going, and I don't have as much time as I normally would to try and think of a way to fix this up.**

 **And also, going back and revising Chapters 50-53, I noticed lots of words with the letter 'H' missing. My 'H' key is busted and is stubborn on when it wants to work and when it doesn't. Don't ask how, but I got a staple stuck under my keyboard and I think it's underneath my 'H' key. So if you see words that don't make sense due to a missing 'H', that's why. Please let me know of any of these incidents that I miss in the editing stage so I can fix them. They'll mostly be in the author's notes for now, but until Chapters 50+ you may start seeing some instances where this happens.**

 **Anyway, see you next chapter! Oh, by the way, who do you think the dragon that attack Aaron was? You've seen him before, and we'll see him again next chapter when we return with the dragons.**


	25. Chapter 24: Broken Friendships

**Damn, my longest chapter yet. Almost 4500 words. Coming from a 1300-word chapter straight into another 4000-word chapter, so enjoy, I guess. Lots more long ones will be coming at you soon. Two chapters until the first major action sequence, by the way, and after reading this chapter, you might be able to figure out what's going to happen.**

 **To 'Fredrik the astral dragon', the reason why I'm talking about Chapter 54 and stuff (I wasn't in the mood to start Chapter 55 so this chapter's a freebie for you all) is because I've written a whole crap-ton of stuff in advance; I've been writing this fanfic since March last year (almost been working on this for a year now, jeez…) so that explains why I'm about 31 chapters ahead. More like 51, if you count the extra 20 chapters I've written for the other fanfic I've been writing since May or June last year. Damn, I just realised how much work I've done on these. Glad to be able to do something with them now.**

 **Anyway, onto the dragons. 'LoNeWoLf' guessed correctly at who the attacker-dragon was, and we'll see him return this chapter to dob Aaron in to Spyro.**

* * *

"Spyro! Spyro! I believe you now!" Shocker cried as he landed in front of Spyro's apartment, knocking rapidly on the door.

A groggy purple dragon opened the door, groaning and growling. "Shocker, it's night and I'm trying to sleep. Cynder probably is as well." Spyro said, gesturing up at Cynder's apartment at her mention.

"But Spyro, I believe you now!" Shocker panted.

"Of course you do, you're my friend, aren't you?" Spyro asked, a grin on his face.

But it was then that Spyro noticed the shocked, panicked look on Shocker's face. His face fell and his eyes narrowed, his mouth thinning into a small line. "Are you okay, Shocker? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Spyro asked.

"Not a ghost, but the ape you were talking about. I found it in the forest." Shocker explained, and Spyro's expression hardened. "I saw it with my own eyes, and I managed to cause some damage on it. I believe you now! I really do! I'm sorry for criticising what you said about the ape, but that was because I wasn't sure that it really existed! I do, now!"

"Well at least you did something to hinder it." Spyro muttered.

"But it gets worse!" Shocker cried.

"'Worse'? What do you mean, 'worse', Shocker?" Spyro asked, scrunching up his face in confusion, not wanting to hear the answer.

"I saw a _second_ one!" Shocker blurted out.

"Hold on a minute… did you just say… you saw… a _second ape_?!" Spyro exclaimed, his eyes widening and his body beginning to tremble.

Shocker only nodded. Spyro's features went from surprise to absolute terror. _I knew it. I knew this would happen. The ape is bringing its kind back. It's saving them from their curse!_ Spyro thought, his head aching as the shock got to him. _Soon enough, the apes will be back on our tails, ready to start another war and kill us all! But it's only been two years! We've barely recovered! Nobody can afford any more of this!_

"But it gets worse yet again!" Shocker said, interrupting Spyro's thoughts as more terror seemed to pile onto the purple dragon's expression.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked, his voice nothing but a shuddering whisper. "How can anything get worse than _that_?!"

Spyro noticed that Shocker's eyes were watering, a small tear forming around his bottom left eyelid. "Hunter… a-a-and the cheetahs… th-th-they're on the ape's s-s-s-side." Shocker stammered, before breaking down into tears.

"H… What?!" Spyro whispered. "They wouldn't! They're on our side! They helped us get _rid_ of the apes! The cheetahs wouldn't just turn on us and join the ape _just like that_!"

But Shocker had _more_ to add, and the fourteen-year-old electric dragon was now a sobbing mess, overcome by the sheer reality of the fear that was dawning over him. "And the second ape… mentioned Cynder and Volteer." Shocker sobbed fearfully.

"Cynder and Volt…" Spyro started before shaking his head, beginning to snap at his friend at the sheer madness of the fact. "They _wouldn't_! Cynder and I… we've been through dark times together! She wouldn't just turn her back on me now! And Volteer is a _guardian_ , by the ancestors' names! He's even _less_ likely to go on the ape's side!"

"It's true! The first ape said something about being the target of a dragon race, and the second replied saying that they both were a target since a dragon that wasn't Cynder or Volteer, me, had seen them, and then the first ape got all mad at the second." Shocker cried. "That heavily implies that Cynder and Volteer have had some strange activity with the apes, much like the cheetahs."

Spyro felt his blood boil. His breath came in heavy gasps as he looked back to the staircase that went up to Cynder's apartment. Snarling, Spyro turned and entered Cynder's apartment, waking her up with an angry yell.

"Explain!" Spyro shouted. "Now!"

"Wh-wh-wh-what did I do, Spyro?!" Cynder stammered, jolting backwards at the shock of being woken up very rudely by Spyro.

"Shocker has seen the ape, who mentioned you and Volteer. What the ape said _heavy implied_ that you were on its side." Spyro explained darkly.

Cynder was taken aghast by the statement. She and Volteer had been found out. And so had Aaron. She tried to protest, but Spyro kept talking. "The cheetahs were also mentioned, and Shocker _also_ saw a _second_ ape!" Spyro shouted. "You _know_ something, Cynder! You're _up to_ something! And I want to know _what_ that something is!"

Cynder said the only thing she could think of. "The ape's lying. They've been known to do that." Cynder blurted out.

What Spyro said next petrified and mortified her. "So have _you_ , Terror of the Skies." Spyro spat. "You already _have_."

"Spyro! What in the ancestors' names?! Why would you _ever_ call me that name?! I'm different now, you _know_ that! You _said_ that! To _everyone_ in Warfang! _You_ made them calm down and accept me! Why would you turn back on your word?!" Cynder protested.

"Because after what Shocker said happened when he found the apes and chased after them says against what I originally said, and I frankly don't trust you anymore!" Spyro roared. "You can have time to think up what you will say overnight. I will get the guardians _and_ the elders together tomorrow and we'll see what to do. Goodnight."

And Spyro left without another word. Cynder did everything she could to refrain from bursting into tears. But she did anyway. Her lie had been found out. What scared her was that Volteer would be caught off guard by the fact that she and Volteer had been found out, and the cheetahs were now brought into the situation. Aaron had been seen out in the wild, and, even worse, the passive, gentle apes of Arriax had been found as well. So much had gone wrong within _one night_. Now the _elders_ were also being brought in, and they were strict, stern, yet wise. But having past experience with the apes, they too, would not approve of Aaron and the apes from Arriax. Cynder, Volteer, Aaron, the cheetahs and apes were in a gravely bad spot.

And Cynder knew it would just get worse from here…

* * *

"Alright, so everyone's here, Spyro. What did you want to tell us about?" Terrador asked, rubbing his bandaged shoulder.

"Some… disturbing… mentions came up last night when Shocker found the ape in the forest." Spyro said, and for a moment he swore he saw the blood drain from Volteer's face.

"I'm… I'm sure that us guardians unaccompanied may as well have managed this, Spyro. The elders are even now recuperating from the overwhelming and devastating trauma of the war and having to go into asylum, and they're still endeavouring hard as they might to get used to the city after being absent from it for ten or so years." Volteer said nervously. "There was by no means any necessity and requirement to get them involved into whatever predicament you may bring to us."

"Volteer." the old voice of Statirn, the electric elder, scolded. "Let the young purple dragon speak."

"Sorry, Elder Statirn, but I can't contemplate any reason that there was any need to bring you elders into a problematic and nerve-wracking circumstance that us guardians have had to deal with since you brought us into the uppermost authority." Volteer argued.

"But now _we're_ back, and _we're_ in the 'uppermost authority' as you call it, Volteer." said Blazrak, the fire elder, his voice filled with sarcasm when he repeated the words Volteer had spoken.

"Blazrak is right. Now that _we're_ back, the purple dragon has _every right_ to call on us if needed." Subzero, the ice elder, said, his voice filled with pride.

Cynder groaned, rolling her eyes as she brought a forepaw to her forehead. _Must_ all _ice dragons be so boastful and full of themselves? First there's Cyril, and now I've got Icebreath and Subzero to deal with._ Cynder thought.

"Alright, alright!" Cyril groaned. "We should let Spyro speak. If something troubles him so much as to bring the elders to a meeting, then we should let him voice his opinions, however I do say that I agree with Volteer and Elder Subzero _equally_."

"Agreeing with _Volteer_ is a first, Cyril. You sure you're okay from that earth missile I shot at you a few days ago?" Terrador asked coldly, his eyes gleaming nastily.

"Shut up." Blazrak snapped. "My patience is running thin. Young purple dragon, speak."

"My information is a little vague, thanks to Shocker's endless fearful rambling, but from what I can gather, he's found the ape that we've dealt with recently in the forest. It was random and Shocker was unprepared. After chasing down the ape, they both stumbled across a _second_ ape, which concerns me because the apes were thought to have gone extinct after the war ended, but now there are two back. Who knows, there could even be more. As the apes fled, they had a bit of an angry conversation, and more disturbing points were thrown into the mix." Spyro explained.

"Elaborate on this, please." Volteer coaxed, his heart speeding up with fear, knowing where this could be going.

"Shocker said that he heard the first ape say something about being the target of the dragon race, which he very well has been since making his 'grand appearance' in Warfang four days ago. Five if you include the day when Terrador found it in a fire dragoness' cave." Spyro continued. "Then the second ape said that they both were a target of the dragon race, since 'a dragon that wasn't Cynder or Volteer' had seen them. The first ape got all angry as if someone's cover had been blown or something, but it _really_ concerns me that Cynder and Volteer's names were brought up."

Cynder received an accusing look from Spyro, and Volteer received confused, distressed looks from Terrador and Cyril. Volteer shrugged innocently, shaking his head, but he couldn't fool the other guardians, whom he had been friends with for so long that they _knew_ if Volteer was trying to get out of trouble.

Spyro continued speaking, "The fashion in which Shocker said they spoke their names heavily implied that Cynder and Volteer were being two-faced about the whole ape situation. _Are_ … being two-faced about the situation. What's _worse_ is when Shocker said he could have eliminated the first ape, the second got away, six _cheetahs_ got into the fight, shot Shocker down and ran off with the ape. The worst bit is that Shocker said that the ape, too, carried a bow and quiver, which is weird since apes aren't good archers, but nevertheless, the ape managed to land _three successful_ hits on Shocker."

"This is very… puzzling and… distressing." Subzero muttered.

Terrain, the earth elder, began to make several grunting noises. Subzero looked at Terrain and smirked. "What have you figured out, Terrain? Whenever you do that you always figure out something useful." Subzero said.

"That's very true. You see, while Spyro was telling his story, I actually studied the reactions of Volteer and the dark purple dragoness – Cynder, I think you said her name was – as they seemed to be reacting and fidgeting the most out of everyone. I saw Volteer's face pale and Cynder never looked up from her paws. Those signs I have seen a lot in my lifetime, and normally they are associated with guilt or shame." Terrain explained. "I can pretty much confirm that they _are_ playing this very two-faced, in Spyro's words, and there is a possibility that most of this other information wasn't new to them. They probably already know that the cheetahs have sided with the ape, and that there is more than one of them. Perhaps, they have even sided with the ape, too."

"Volteer, you've always been the odd one out of all four of us guardians, but this is _despicable_!" Cyril scolded as Volteer tightened his jaws and looked down, his bright yellow eyes not looking at Cyril once as the bandaged ice guardian spoke. "Siding with _apes_?! This is _childish_ behaviour, and very unlike how a _guardian_ should act!"

"You're _damn right_ it's juvenile behaviour! I'm the youngest of the guardians! _Seven years_ younger than the next, which is _you_ , Cyril!" Volteer spat, looking up at Cyril angrily. "You've _continuously_ expected me to be mature and developed and to learn when to seal my large, 'chubby' mouth when necessary, which you deem is _all the damned time_ , you necessitating and obligating frauds, but I _will not_ stand for the criticism and disapproval _anymore_!"

"Calm yourself, Volteer." Terrador threatened, his voice getting dangerously low.

"No, I will _not_!" Volteer shouted.

" _This_ is why we tell you to shut the hell up!" Cyril spat, standing up and slamming a paw down on the ground angrily. "Because you get yourself into situations you can't get out of and _we_ have to do the cleaning up _for_ you!"

"You _liar_! Your solitary purpose of saying that is because you're _sick of my voice_!" Volteer retorted, standing up and glaring angrily at Cyril.

"This sort of fighting is inappropriate for dragons of your age and those with authority such as you!" Statirn said as loud as he could.

"Tell that to Terrador! He's gotten himself into a bout _twice_ within forty-eight hours just two days ago!" Volteer blamed.

"You don't think we haven't heard what happened, Volteer?!" Blazrak roared, standing up, his short temper getting dangerously close to bursting.

"I could make that _three_ within _three_ days if I wanted to, Volteer!" Terrador shouted, following suit.

"Calm down, this is _extremely_ unnecessary!" Cynder cried, standing up and walking towards the bickering leaders, but was stopped by Spyro.

"Don't get into their argument. Let's just leave!" Spyro muttered.

"But if we don't do something one of them is sure to snap and break into violence! And that won't be good for someone as frail as the elders are!" Cynder added.

As much as Spyro hated the idea of breaking up the fight (which was odd, but Spyro didn't question the strange feeling that was coming over him), he had to admit that Cynder was right. Spyro was loyal to the guardians, and even more so, the elders, now that they had come back into authority. "Guys, stop! There's no need for this!" Spyro shouted.

"It'll just end badly, trust me!" Cynder cried, remembering the battle between Terrador and General Icebreath.

"No! Trust _me_!" Terrador shouted as he whirled around to glare at them, before he turned back to the argument, his scales flushing bright red.

"Stop this insolence!" Blazrak yelled.

"I can do and say what I want, thank you very much!" Cyril scowled.

"This is very childish behaviour, shut it and sit down!" Subzero shouted.

"I'm _sorry_ I'm the youngest! I'm the youngest in everything! My family, my friends, the guardians! What in the ancestors' names next?!" Volteer apologised sarcastically, his voice bitter.

" _Enough_!" Cynder shrieked.

"No, Cynder! We will not stop! _I_ will not stop!" Terrador scowled, walking out of the silenced group of once bickering dragons and towards Cynder, his voice carrying a very dangerous tone. "I won't listen to you, especially since you betrayed us!"

"Betrayed you?! What in the ancestors' names are you talking about?!" Cynder asked.

"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT THE HELL I'M TALKING ABOUT, TERROR OF THE SKIES!" Terrador roared.

"You take that back!" Volteer yelled.

"And why would you be so protective of her, huh?!" Spyro shouted, flaring his wings protectively. "You're too old for her!"

"BECAUSE I'M ON HER SIDE!" Volteer roared, his voice rising in a way it never had before. "DO YOU _REALLY_ THINK I'M ENDEAVOURING TO GET HER _ROMANTICALLY_ , YOU PURPLE LIZARD?!"

"SO YOU ACCEPT THAT YOU AND CYNDER ARE ON THE APE'S SIDE?!" Terrador shouted, rounding on Volteer.

"HE'S A HUMAN!" Cynder screeched.

" _IMPOSSIBLE_! NO BEING HAS EVER EXISTED!" Spyro shouted, turning on _her_.

"IT'S VERY POSSIBLE! HE'S THE FIRST TO WALK IN THE DRAGON REALMS!" Cynder spat.

"How do we know that's not a lie, _Terror_?!" Terrador asked with a low voice that contained such bitterness it made Cynder shiver.

"Why are you calling me Terror?! That's _five years_ gone!" Cynder whimpered.

Terrador opened his large mouth to spit an answer back at Cynder, but Terrain interrupted him. "Cynder's right, Terrador. There's no reason to call her by her old title anymore; she's a changed dragoness, and you know well enough of that. This is _not_ how a guardian should behave." Terrain scolded.

"If I remember correctly that while I was a child, when _you_ were the guardians, _you_ fought a lot as well!" Terrador scowled.

"Not in full-on assaults like you have been recently, Terrador!" Blazrak shouted. "You're at about the age where _we_ stopped arguing with each other and getting along! Volteer and Cyril have had problems since you became guardians at around a hundred years old, but that doesn't explain _this_!"

Unable to spit a retort back at the elders, he rounded on Cynder again. "I suggest you speak the truth, _Cynder_. Are you, or are you not on the ape's side of this?" Terrador said darkly, his voice a rumbling, gravelly whisper and filled with malice and bitterness.

All eyes turned on Cynder, and no one saw Volteer's head shaking side to side frantically as if to say 'don't do it, say no'. Cynder opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, and she stood there, mouthing in silent stutters. Then she spoke, "Yes."

Cynder hung her head low and closed her eyes as she heard Spyro, Terrador and Blazrak gasp in shock. There was a quiet, low groan that came from Volteer. Cynder didn't want to admit to her lie any more than she wanted to get on Spyro's bad side, but she had walked into it and she couldn't get herself out of it now. There was no point in keeping the lie going. "Yes, I am. And I-I-I-I'm sorry f-f-for l-lying, and… and… a-a-a-and I know I messed up and I b-betrayed your trust and hurt you, a-a-a-and I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Cynder babbled, tears forcing themselves out of Cynder's eyes in painful rivers.

Cynder suddenly fell backwards as searing pain flared up in her left cheek. She opened her eyes and put her paw to her cheek and when she brought it back, she saw blood on them. She looked up at her attacker with utter disbelief and shrunk back on herself, breathing heavily and her lips moving in unreadable shapes. Spyro had a vicious snarl on his face and smoke bellowed from his nostrils. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Cynder. Not this time." Spyro said softly before raising his voice and making Cynder jump. "I _trusted_ you, Cynder! You've lied to us countless times since the ape appeared, and you continued to do so for four straight days! You lied to the elders, to the guardians, and to _me_! I'm angry… and worried… because I can't trust you anymore!"

Spyro paused for a moment and swallowed. Cynder could have sworn that she saw tears welling up in Spyro's fierce eyes. "You're back with the apes, Cynder. That worries me more than anything!" Spyro continued, his voice a hoarse whisper now. "I'm scared you're turning back to your old ways, and you're _pulling Volteer with you_!" As he spoke the last four words, spittle flew from his lips, spraying all over Cynder's chest.

Standing up slowly and painfully, as Cynder had landed on her shoulders hard, Cynder looked Spyro in the eyes, and she saw the fear in them. But there was no mistake that plenty of rage was also evident in those violet eyes, no matter how hard Spyro tried to hide it. Taking in a sharp, shaky breath, Cynder spoke. "Volteer came with me upon his own will. I didn't do anything to make him change. I'm still myself. I didn't go to the apes because I wanted to go turn back towards my old ways. I went because I saw that _they_ had changed, and that they needed a chance to _show_ everyone that they had!" Cynder explained.

"Apes don't just _change_ , Cynder." Spyro snarled. "You remember what they were like! Oh, what am I saying? Of course you do! You were their army general! And I know that you know _very well_ that the apes are _incapable_ of changing!"

"If only you knew!" Cynder cried.

"Cynder is speaking with complete and honest accuracy. The apes _are_ unlike what we recognise them to be. The only reason I swapped sides is for the reason that I observed and witnessed how genuine they were about desiring to change!" Volteer piped up before shaking his head and growling, "Ancestors, what am I saying?! We're talking about this like it's _warfare_ , for the ancestors' sakes! Talking about 'sides' and all!"

"That's because if the apes are back, this could very well _turn into_ a war." Statirn said.

"How can you be so blind?! The apes aren't here to start another war! They've almost forgotten what it is to fight! They all get along so well in Arriax!" Cynder cried.

"You foolish dragon!" Blazrak shouted. "You may have had first-hand experience with apes, but when it comes to making decisions you are absolutely horrible at it! The only thing apes know how to do is to fight, maim and kill!"

"Wait, ' _Arriax_ '?! There's a _place_ full of apes? A village? A town? A _city_?!" Spyro growled, whirling around and glaring at Cynder.

"Cynder!" Volteer scowled through gritted, and Cynder immediately registered what she had said as more tears began to form in her eyes.

"Ah! So it _is_ true!" Spyro concluded, turning his head to look at Volteer.

"I didn't say…!" Volteer shouted before snarling in frustration.

"If there's a city full of apes, then who knows what they could be planning? We need to find a way to find the city and annihilate it!" Terrador announced.

"NO!" Cynder shrieked, lunging forward.

Cynder was slammed down to the ground once again by Spyro. She landed with a loud thud as her dark purple scales bruised black. Leaping into the air, Spyro landed on top of Cynder, pinning her to the ground. He raised his paw and slashed it across Cynder's face twice, then across her shoulder. Cynder hissed air through her gritted fangs as she took in the pain of Spyro's attack. "You _must_ understand that you must return to our ways or you will pay the consequences!" Spyro scowled.

Cynder couldn't believe this. Spyro was actually _threatening_ her to give up being friends with and protecting Aaron and the apes. But that would mean betraying the cheetahs, who had been the dragons' allies and friends for five years. Cynder groaned inwardly. Everything had become so complex within the past four days that nothing made sense anymore.

She felt Spyro get off her. But Cynder wouldn't get back up. She was too shocked and confused about everything that was going on. "Well I'm leaving." Spyro said. "I think that's enough drama for one day."

"I agree. Wise choice, young Spyro." Terrain agreed. "My old bones and voice need a bit of a rest after today. And we all need time to think about what to do next. _Especially_ Cynder and Volteer."

Muttering in agreement, all the dragons left the meeting room of the Warfang Temple, except for Cynder and Volteer. Closing her eyes and curling up in a ball, Cynder let out a few shuddering sobs before she jumped at Volteer's voice which brought her back into reality. "Cynder. Are you alright?" Volteer asked.

Cynder opened her eyes and looked up at Volteer. Genuine concern was evident on his face. Standing up, but not looking Volteer in the eyes, Cynder replied, "Yes, I'm fine. But what do we do now? They know. They know too much. I'm scared."

"There's no necessity to be frightened, Cynder. This is life. Disagreements transpire." Volteer said softly.

"That wasn't just a disagreement. That was a lot more than that." Cynder sobbed. "There's clearly two sides now after what's just been explained, much like there would in a fight or war."

Volteer didn't know how to answer. He sighed and looked at the door that everyone had walked through as they left. Cynder sat on the ground, staring at her paws as she cried, the sound of her sobs putting doubt in Volteer's mind. About what, he didn't know. Volteer jumped as he heard Cynder speak again, "Please don't change back. I need you. They need you. Aaron and the apes need some way to prove that they're not what all the other dragons think they are." Cynder muttered, standing up slowly and walking, _hobbling_ , towards the door.

Volteer could only stare at Cynder as she left. "They're good people, and they don't deserve this. The apes need a second chance. Aaron never got a chance. He was attacked as soon as he got here." Cynder continued.

Still unsure how to answer, Volteer muttered only two words. "I know."

Cynder exploded into a pained sprint, her paws touching the ground nimbly as she ran off, trying to hide her tears. Volteer stared as the dark purple dragoness left the Warfang Temple in tears, and frowned. _Spyro and Cynder… I can't believe this is happening to them. They've been friends… even_ more _than that… for so long now, but… now..._

Volteer couldn't finish the thought. It hurt too much, even for him. He enjoyed seeing the bright side of things. He was optimistic. But now everything was falling apart. The relationship between Spyro and Cynder was breaking dramatically. Even the brotherhood between him, Terrador and Cyril had broken. All the dragons he knew were changing in drastic measures, and he couldn't keep up. Then he had a very horrible thought. He thought of the possibility of his own friends, his 'brothers', turning against him in an attack. He'd already seen it happen with Terrador and Cyril. Volteer didn't want it to happen again. For the first time in two hundred years, Volteer felt his eyes fill up with moisture. He brought a claw to his eye and wiped it, seeing the liquid collected on his claw. _Is this… what it feels like… to cry?_ the normally joyful, optimistic dragon thought, the tears dripping down his face.

* * *

 **Things are going slightly out of whack, aren't they? I really liked this chapter, and we finally get to see the elders. I've always loved the idea that lots of people have, which I think is kind of adapted from the _Classic Spyro_ games, of the elders, which are the only rank higher than 'guardian', so I decided to do it too. It hasn't been overdone too much, so hopefully I did it well enough for your liking. And a little bit of breakdown between the guardians seemed interesting, so yay, things are getting real.**

 **Next chapter's the last filler before the big action scene starts. Get excited for that, because I am! See you all later!**


	26. Chapter 25: Return to Arriax

**Well, this is the last chapter before the big action sequence. Hope you enjoy this one… kind of. You are all going to like the action sequence, or at least I hope so. I'm proud of it. It's the first action sequence I ever got really into writing, and I'm really happy of it. Anyway, enough about how proud I am of the action sequence that hasn't started yet, I'm going to get onto responding to reviews, and then onto the chapter!**

 **A lot of you were speculating a civil war between the dragons. You'll find out what happens at the end of this chapter and next chapter when the big action sequence starts, but it was quite heavily implied what was going to happen back in the previous chapter.**

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', I guess the 'Idiot Hit List' has become more of a list of those who are out for blood. Aaron's blood specifically. And I had no idea who Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees were, though (kill me now lol), but I Googled them and ha ha, they'd fit right on that 'Bloodthirsty Kill List'.**

 **And to 'Derick Lindsey', it is quite crazy how a lot of development has happened yet we're only 25 chapters into the story, with 30 to go (of what I've written, though – I finished Chapter 55 and I'm dang happy with it). But the action sequence coming up takes up about five chapters, before going into more progression, with slightly more action and gore (the story does get slightly bloodier, but not enough to need an M-rating, I think), before another four-chapter action sequence later on in the story. And a lot of the chapters in between the action sequences are quite short as well, because they're a lot of POV and time swaps that kind of need their own separate chapters, so in theory, the gap isn't really too big.**

 **Anyway, enough of that. _Broken Perceptions_ has hit almost 10 000 views (wow), so I'm really happy with that, so let's get onto the next chapter.**

* * *

Aaron awoke, coughing. He sat up, groaning, and rubbed his eyes, his vision getting clearer. "Aaron, are you alright?" a voice asked.

The voice was female. He blinked several times and as his vision cleared, he saw Rose sitting beside him. The room of the infirmary hut was filled with a few more cheetahs waiting for Aaron to wake. He saw Hunter, Ulfitz, Horilith, Archer, and two others he didn't know.

"I'm fine, Rose." Aaron said, putting a hand to his head. "Just… a little shocked, to be exact."

A voice interrupted what Rose was about to say. "I guess you didn't mean that pun, right?" Archer said with a chuckle, receiving small chuckles from the other three cheetahs in the room.

"Ugh. No, I didn't." Aaron groaned, a small, single chuckle escaping his throat.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, confused.

"Well, the dragon that attacked me was an electric dragon." Aaron simply explained.

Rose's eyes lit up as she finally got the joke. "I get it." she chuckled.

Aaron smirked and rolled his eyes. He stood up and stretched. "I feel great!" he exclaimed.

"That's good to hear, Aaron. Let's just hope that nothing else bad happens." Archer replied.

"I don't think that'll be the last we see of the dragons, however." Hunter said gravely. "They will be coming back. And I'm not talking about Cynder or Volteer."

"And you just _had_ to ruin a good moment! Your apprentice has woken up from being electrocuted and beaten, almost to death! You should be _happy_!" Ulfitz replied, crossing his arms and frowning.

"I _am_ happy. I just can't help but think about what's coming. I like to be prepared for things. But this time, I'm also worried." Hunter explained. "The main problem is that if it _is_ true that Spyro is changing rapidly and attacking even _Cynder_ , then I'm worried about what he'll become."

"And knowing Prowlus he'll probably get up at you for thinking he was a good dragon." Horilith said.

"Yes, but I don't want to think about that in particular." Hunter deadpanned.

There was silence for a while. Aaron grabbed his bow and quiver, hanging them around his back. "I want to go to Arriax. I need to apologise to Schagorath." Aaron said.

"Why?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because he got in the middle of the attack. I yelled at him, and swore at him." Aaron explained. "Well, I'll be seeing you later."

"I'm coming with you." Hunter said. "I want to make sure you stay safe. They know too much information now."

"Same here." Ulfitz added, standing up before quietly adding, "And I sort of want to see what this 'Arriax' is like."

"I'm coming as well." Horilith said.

"Can I come?" came Rose's voice.

"Sorry, Rose. But you're too young. And you don't know how to use a bow and arrow." Hunter apologised. "If, on the odd occasion we get attacked, we need everyone to be able to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, that leaves you out of it."

"I know how to use a bow!" Rose denied, her voice rising.

"Just not very well is what I meant. You were quite late to the training program, meaning you aren't skilled enough to defend yourself in battle. Skilled enough to take down prey or hit a target, probably, but you'll fall injured quite quickly if you'd end up in battle." Hunter explained, a sad tone in his voice. "Battle is quite ugly, and I especially don't want you to experience that too early. I know your father wouldn't either."

"Yeah. He's too overprotective." Rose snapped, kicking the ground. "Fine, I'll stay here. Just come back safe. All of you."

"We will." Hunter said. "I promise."

Ulfitz leaned over to Hunter and whispered, "Don't make a promise you can't keep! If we get caught in a fight with a dragon, just _one_ of us is almost guaranteed to come out with an injury!"

Hunter ignored Ulfitz and bowed slightly, before turning to leave. Ulfitz, Horilith and Aaron followed Hunter out of the infirmary hut, leaving Rose alone. She sighed before leaving.

* * *

"So it's in here? Underground?" Ulfitz asked.

"Yeah. It isn't surprising how they stayed hidden for two years. It was just an unfortunate turn of events that Hunter and I came across one of them." Aaron explained, shrugging. "Now I just need to go in and find Schagorath."

With that, Aaron, Hunter, Ulfitz and Horilith climbed down the large ladders down into the deep darkness of the cave that Arriax was in. When they went over the second ladder and began to climb down it, getting a full view of the city, Ulfitz and Horilith gasped. "It's big. And amazing." Ulfitz said, his voice filled with awe.

"Well they had to do _something_ with their large numbers. You remember how big their armies were during the war." Hunter said.

"Yeah. But the thing that amazes me the most is how big it is and how much work it would have taken. They're not moles, and I know the moles probably the best builders around. The cool bit is that apes were only ever murderers and captors. That was the only effort of work they did. Everything else was useless. They let the prisoners do all the other work." Ulfitz replied.

"It's just so peaceful and quiet here." Horilith said. "It's almost unnatural for an ape civilisation."

"That's what I thought, too. But I got used to it quickly. It was a good change." Hunter agreed.

Aaron and the accompanying cheetahs reached the bottom of the ladder as they reached the ground. Aaron headed off into the city and began asking apes if they'd seen Schagorath, Norak or Karrivorn. He knew if Schagorath was nowhere to be seen, it would be worth a try asking Norak or Karrivorn to see where Schagorath was. However, no one knew where any of the three were. And that ended up in ten minutes of unsuccessful searching went by until Horilith accidentally collided into an ape. "Horilith! You're so clumsy!" Ulfitz scolded, helping Horilith to his feet.

Aaron helped the ape to its feet, before realising it was Karrivorn. "Oh, hi, Karrivorn!" Aaron said.

"Hi, Aaron. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Do you… do you know what's wrong with Schagorath? He came home all upset about something and the only word he said was 'Aaron'. I was wondering if you knew something." Karrivorn said, her voice carrying a hint of an accusing tone.

"Yeah, I got a little angry at him. He found me half way through a dragon assault." Aaron stammered.

"A _dragon assault_?!" Karrivorn shouted hoarsely.

Karrivorn's exclamation went unheeded by Aaron. "I actually came to apologise to him." Aaron said. "Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah. I'll take you to see him." Karrivorn said after slight hesitation.

Aaron, Hunter, Ulfitz and Horilith followed the female ape down the calm streets of Arriax. Taking a good look at the city for a second time, he suddenly imagined running through the streets of Spagonia in _Sonic Unleashed_ at night time, imagining the calm yet haunting jazz music of the night-time zones of Rooftop Run playing in the background. He let out a small chuckle just thinking about video games. It was ironic. He missed his technology and games, yet he was living in the world of one of his favourite video games.

"Well, we're here." Karrivorn said.

Aaron's eyes turned to a large shack. There was loud clanking of metal and large amounts of billowing smoke. Most likely, this was a blacksmithing area, where Schagorath probably worked. "I'll go find him. I'll get you when I find him and tell him you're here to see him." Karrivorn said, walking off through the dozen blacksmiths that worked in the shack.

It was only thirty seconds before Karrivorn returned with Schagorath. "Hi, Aaron." Schagorath muttered, not looking up at the human.

"Hi. You know, I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. Like… if it scared you or anything, because I know that Malefor… Gaul… whatever… did that quite often to the apes." Aaron apologised. "When you're trying to keep your life, it sort of just… comes out."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for apologising. It was just the way you yelled at me, I think. That's the first time I've ever been yelled at in two years, and the last time before that was… was when I was little and Malefor came back into the Dragon Realms five years ago, when Gaul was killed. It was when he found out that our kind was disloyal to him and were using him for own greedy wants. He took out his anger on the first ape he could find. That ape was me." Schagorath explained, shuddering at the memory.

Schagorath grabbed a tuft of fur on his cheek and pulled it back, revealing the pink flesh underneath it. Aaron gasped as he saw a massive scar there. "Malefor gave me this. In amongst the war between Malefor and the dragons, we had our own civil war with Malefor. The apes decided they didn't want Malefor to be in control of them, and so they attempted to knock him down and take over. Their plan to use Malefor for their own rise for power was so strong it blinded them from Malefor's fury. He drove us out and cursed us, before then creating the grublins." Schagorath explained. "I wasn't the only one to get hurt. The only child that is."

"That is, if you count a child as twelve or thirteen years old." Karrivorn added.

"Well you graduate the full training academy and can start fighting in the war at seventeen. A child _was_ considered as thirteen years old." Schagorath said with a chuckle. "Still, it was terrifying."

"I can imagine. I've been in plenty of squabbles with dragons recently." Aaron said.

A voice began to yell. "DRAGONS!"

" _What_?!" Aaron shouted.

"I have a feeling that they're not Cynder or Volteer." Schagorath muttered.

Aaron burst into a sprint towards the ladders that led up to the surface, ignoring Hunter's protests. Climbing up past the ape who had yelled the word, he got high enough to see a swarm of about twenty to thirty dragons clustering in the sky. Amongst the darkness of the night, he could see the colours of the dragons quite well.

One of them was purple.

* * *

 **I think it should be obvious where this is going now. And with the little _Sonic Unleashed_ reference, I must have you know that _Sonic Unleashed_ was my favourite game of my childhood, and it has some of the best music I've ever heard a game deliver. I was actually listening to the music while writing that scene, to be specific, the exact song I described: The Rooftop Run Night Stage theme.**

 **Anyway, the action's starting up next chapter, so get ready for that sweet goodness. See you next chapter!**


	27. Chapter 26: Siege on Arriax

**11 000 views! Jeez, this was a lot popular than I expected!**

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', I'm glad someone's in the same boat as me with _Sonic Unleashed_. I loved that game as a kid, I should try playing it again. And it makes me laugh every time you call the dragons 'lizards'. It's not a very nice term that's used quite often in fanfictions and to see it being used in this scenario's kinda funny. But yeah, things will get worse, and I can tell that you'll probably start hating on Spyro and some of the other characters a hell of a lot more considering what else I have planned.**

 **And to 'BirmanDragon', it's been nice to see you finally review this story. But yeah, I've done archery once or twice in Year 8 camp; it's hard (I fluked one or two bullseyes on my first few attempts so meh). I actually spent ages trying to think of a reason for Aaron's skill with a bow, because to be honest, what I originally had was crap. Aaron originally had learned all the skills from video games, nothing else. I mean, that's completely bullcrap. Sure, people have learned things from games, but with Aaron having never used a bow and arrow before, and to have that good of a skillset to impress Hunter, there was no way I was going to leave it like that. This was the best way I could have done it, being the non-sporty person Aaron is. So I made his natural talent archery, as we all have a natural talent somewhere in the spectrum, don't we? Anyway, glad you're enjoying this story.**

 **Anyway, onto the first chapter of the big action sequence. I'm editing a video for YouTube now, so bye.**

* * *

Grabbing his bow and an arrow, Aaron quickly shot at a dragon, hitting it in the leg and making it wobble in the sky. _Would have been better if it was the wing, but I guess they can't really fly in here._ Aaron thought. _If they're looking for Arriax of course. If it was just a flight lesson or search party, then I was stupid to shoot them down._

Aaron slid down the ladder and ran back to the blacksmith shack. On the way there, he ran into Hunter, who had decided to follow after Aaron but had gotten caught up in the commotion of the apes that were starting to freak out. "What is it? What did you see?!" Hunter asked, panic evident in his voice.

"Dragons. Twenty or thirty of them. Spyro is among them." Aaron panted.

"We need to evacuate the city." Ulfitz suggested, catching up to Aaron and Hunter.

"Schagorath! Schagorath!" Aaron shouted, running off to the blacksmith shack, after having taken Ulfitz's suggestion into thought.

"What is it?" Schagorath asked.

"Do you have any weapons?" Aaron asked.

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Schagorath exclaimed. "Can't we just evacuate or hide or something?!"

"Yes, but there's no doubt that some apes may fall. If we want to protect ourselves, we need to fight back, only without the killing that you apes are so known for." Aaron explained.

"But I don't _want_ to fight! I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone in _Arriax_!" Schagorath shouted.

"My brother's right, Aaron." Karrivorn said, huddling up next to Schagorath and clutching onto him with fear. "We don't want to fight; we've put all that behind us."

"Do you think _I_ want to fight them any more than you do?!" Aaron asked. "Do you think _they_ do?!"

Aaron gestured to the three cheetahs standing behind him as he said the phrase. Schagorath lowered his head, only for it to snap back up as he jumped, the sound of rumbling coming from the roof of the cave overhead. There was a loud banging sound as dust and small pebbles began to fall from the roof of the cave that Arriax was in. "They're going to break in! Quick, you need weapons to protect yourself! A hammer, a club! Something!" Aaron said frantically.

"Aaron's right, Schagorath. This is a fight that cannot be avoided. You will have to fight or be killed." Hunter said with a dark tone in his voice. "The tides have turned. The _dragons_ are the invaders and the _apes_ are fighting for their lives."

Schagorath looked at Aaron and the cheetahs, struggling to make up his mind. There was another banging sound. "Hurry. We need time to get the weapons if you have any, and it's going out of our grasp. I know this large cave is under a mountain, but if they're using earth dragons to dig down, it'll probably be about two minutes before they get down here." Hunter said.

"Alright! There's a place where we keep all our old weapons! I don't know _why_ we kept them, but we did." Schagorath exclaimed.

"Take us there!" Aaron cried.

And Schagorath burst into a sprint, with Karrivorn and some other apes who had been listening to the conversation following him. Aaron and Hunter looked at each other, nodded and grabbed an arrow out of their quivers ready to release their first shot. Then they followed the apes. Ulfitz and Horilith did the same. Horilith fumbled the arrow clumsily in his grasp before regaining a proper hold on it and putting it to the drawstring of the bow ready to release. Ulfitz scoffed at Horilith's clumsy nature, and Horilith growled angrily at him.

It took about a minute to get to the large warehouse that the apes had made to keep all the old weapons that they used during the war. They were mainly swords, spears and axes that were used in the war, as well as the occasional gun. There was no ammunition, rendering the big, clumsy, primitive guns useless, and the group of apes looked hesitantly at the weapons. Aaron exhaled heavily, sending dust flying everywhere and leaving the weapons glistening brightly.

"Take one." Aaron said.

Hesitation was evident amongst the apes. The sound of the dragons breaking their way through the mountain was getting louder and more frequent. Any moment the dragons would come breaking through the roof of the cave. Aaron was almost desperate. "This is a fight that cannot be avoided! You will die if you don…!" Aaron shouted, getting cut off as a loud roar was heard.

He looked towards the direction of the roar. "They found the hole in the ground!" an ape cried.

With a loud crash, a large section of the roof broke away. About ten dragons burst through the hole in the ceiling. "And they've dug their way in!" another ape screamed.

"TAKE THEM!" Aaron screamed, running off into the city.

Ignoring the questions and doubts circling about in his head, Schagorath felt his paw rush to the handle of a sword. Picking it up and getting the sharp glint of the sword in his eye, Schagorath ran off towards the battle after Aaron and the cheetahs. After hesitation, the other apes followed Schagorath's example.

Already, Aaron had sent two dragons into a limp after immobilising one of each of their legs. Hunter had missed his target as his feet were swept out from underneath him, hitting a dragon in the shoulder. Ulfitz had been knocked down upon coming across his first dragon, and Horilith, running towards the fallen blue cheetah to help him back to his feet, tripped over the dragon's tail, sending him falling face-first into the rocky ground. Aaron had noticed the hesitation in the dragons' demeanour when it came to the cheetahs, but there was no holding back when it came to Aaron or the apes.

Aaron shot another dragon in the leg, causing it to rear and roar in pain. He didn't know how old this dragon was, but it was younger than Spyro and Cynder, as he could tell by the height and by the fact that the dragon's voice was still deepening, its roar an ear-splitting mix of low and high tones as the cracking voice became nothing but a strangled shout, sounding awfully similar to someone failing at a Tarzan yell. He was beginning to question the dragons' judgement, bringing young teenagers along. Sure, Spyro would have been about thirteen in _A New Beginning_ and _The Eternal Night_ , and sixteen in _Dawn of the Dragon_ , but there was no war going on currently, and to get younger dragons thrown into the conflict was a stupid idea. Feeling bad, Aaron muttered a low apology, and turned his attention towards another attacker as a claw swung around, barely missing the top of his head as he ducked.

Aaron brought an arrow to the drawstring of his bow, and was about to release when the dragon attacker reared, roaring in pain and lowering its torso to the ground, putting pressure on its forepaws and lifting up his rear left leg, in which the bright blue scales of the ice dragon was decorated by a splash of red blood. Aaron watched with surprise as he saw Schagorath pull the sword out from the ankle. Aaron smirked, and Schagorath's lips replied in a goofy smile. They both frowned as the dragon turned around and roared, glaring angrily at Schagorath. Aaron hadn't released his hold on his arrow, which was still brought to the drawstring. Instantly, the human archer re-aimed at the dragon's shoulder and released, sending another arrow wedging in between the scales of the dragon, causing a river of blood to begin running down the painful limb.

Hunter, who was standing about fifteen metres away from Aaron and Schagorath glanced over towards them and nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. _Aaron's quick to react._ Hunter thought. _He's a great kid._

Hunter's thoughts were suddenly shut out as the tailblade of a large electric dragon lashed out at him. Hunter brought his arm up above his head, not wanting to risk getting his head sliced off, although he doubted the idea. It was better to be safe than sorry. Hunter groaned in pain as the tailblade sliced across his forearm, leaving a long trail of blood. Ignoring the pain, Hunter turned to the dragon and was about to fire an arrow at the dragon, but was sent sprawling to the ground by a crackling beam of electricity.

The fallen cheetah watched as an arrow fired from fifteen metres away, wedging itself into the electric dragon's leg. "Hunter! Can you get up?!" Aaron asked.

"I'll be fine." Hunter said, groaning as electricity coursed through his body, causing him to convulse violently on the ground for a few seconds.

Hunter groaned painfully as he hauled himself off the ground, getting onto his knees before getting onto his feet. He wobbled a few times before gaining balance. Aaron let out a shout as his arm rushed into a blur as he grabbed another arrow. He quickly put it to the drawstring and released, sending an arrow whizzing over Hunter's head and into the shoulder of an earth dragon. The dragon let out a roar of pain and reared. The dragon then slammed his paws into the ground (albeit painfully due to his wounded shoulder), sending a ripple through the ground. Three large pillars of earth erupted from underneath Aaron, Schagorath and Hunter, sending them flying into the air. Aaron released another arrow at the dragon, quite clumsily however, due to the force of the rocky pillars that had sent them flying, and the arrow slammed into his sturdy jawbone.

Aaron heard a shout and looked over to see Ulfitz and Horilith cornered by two fire dragons. He knew they weren't likely going for the kill like they would most pleasantly do for him and the apes, but he knew they were still up to raking a few cuts on them. Surprisingly, Schagorath was the first to run towards them, his sword extended. Schagorath leapt into the air, raising the sword over his head, and brought it down on one of the dragons' back legs in a long, jagged cut that bled profusely. Aaron grabbed an arrow and drew back, before releasing, sending the arrow hammering into the second dragon's flank. Aaron groaned in annoyance, knowing he had missed his aim of the shoulder.

The dragons' attention quickly changed towards Aaron, Schagorath and Hunter. Schagorath seemed to shrink back on himself. Quick as a flash, Aaron noticed Ulfitz leap forward, grabbing Schagorath and rolling out of the way as they narrowly missed a double flamethrower from the two orange dragons. Horilith, with Karrivorn following, ran up towards Aaron, Schagorath and the other two cheetahs. "Karrivorn? What are you doing with an axe?" Schagorath asked.

"I wanted to help. Is there anything wrong with that?" Karrivorn explained, swiftly dodging the swipe of one of the dragons' claws and swinging the axe around, slicing it across the dragon's forepaw several times, leaving a large coat of blood on the tip of the axe.

"You're a female. You shouldn't be fighting. It's just like in the war." Schagorath argued, turning and thrusting the blade of his sword into the forepaw of the other fire dragon. "The females didn't fight. And if you picked up a weapon now, you wouldn't know how to fight or use your weapon."

"Is it any different to you, Schagorath? Or the rest of the apes?" Karrivorn retorted. "You haven't picked up a single weapon in two years! Five if you count the three years we've been cursed!"

"Karrivorn's right! And your survival depends on having her and other females fight!" Ulfitz scowled. "Now I suggest we shut up and keep focused on the fight or we'll all lose our heads!"

Horilith rolled his eyes as he sent an arrow slamming into the bottom jaw of the one of the fire dragons, sending dark blood raining onto the floor. But then he was suddenly sent to the ground as the claw of the dragon he was fighting slammed into him. He felt his knees buckle and a heavy, searing pain in his side as a large cut ran across his side as blood streamed down his vibrant orange fur. The muscular cheetah tried to get back to his feet, but felt himself get trapped as the dragon's paw slammed down on top of him, making him cough violently. He groaned as he realised the uncomfortable position he was sprawled out in, his arm crushed painfully between his body and the ground. "Don't get up or I'll knock the living daylights out of you. I don't want to hurt a cheetah. I _can't_. Spyro gave us strict orders not to unless absolutely necessary." the dragon threatened.

Schagorath ran around the dragon and raised his sword over his head, bringing it down in a swift arc, letting the blade slice through the back of the forepaw that was holding Horilith to the ground. The dragon lifted it up in the air as he scowled, blood raining down on top of Horilith, fangs gritted as the pain grew immensely. " _You_ , on the other hand, are _fit_ for the killing!" the dragon shouted.

Aaron, going quickly to Schagorath's rescue, aimed his arrow up towards the dragon's jaw. He felt his feet come out from underneath him as the other dragon swept his large tail along the ground, setting his aim off. Aaron watched in horror as the arrow soared up, wedging itself into the fire dragon's large nostril. The dragon roared in pain, bringing his bloodied paw to his nose, which was now streaming blood. The blood quickly ran down the dragon's muzzle, running down to his upper lip. Aaron watched as the dragon licked his lips, tasting the revolting, metallic taste of his own blood, and his face twisted into an ugly scowl.

The human saw the slow change of demeanour on the dragon's face, changing dramatically from shock, to pure rage. Aaron sent another arrow towards the dragon's head. The arrow wedged itself underneath the dragon's horn, and he threw his head back in pain as he let out another roar. The dragon swayed on his feet as blood dribbled down his body in large rivers, and staggered backwards. Aaron sighed with relief, until he realised where everyone else was staring. He'd almost forgotten the second dragon they'd been fighting, who was glaring at them angrily, his eyes glowing orange. "A fury!" Hunter screamed. "Everyone get cover!"

Hunter knew a fury when he saw one, thanks to Spyro and Cynder. However, their furies made their eyes glow purple and they were granted with the power of Convexity. Being purely a fire dragon, the dragon could only release a fury much like the ones in _A New Beginning_ and _The Eternal Night_. Cynder had already experienced Terrador's earth fury, and it was a frightening experience, as she had said to Aaron. Aaron hadn't experienced a fury in real life, but according to what Cynder said, and to what he had seen in _The Legend of Spyro_ games, he didn't want to. A fire fury would be incredibly volatile, like Terrador's had been destructive. Aaron, Hunter, Ulfitz, Horilith, Schagorath and Karrivorn all let out a shout as they dispersed, finding cover amongst burning rubble and caved-in buildings. Aaron had hidden inside a cracked stone building, that was some sort of meeting place by the looks of it. A small hole had been broken out of the building, just large enough to see the fire dragon's fury break loose.

The heat rushed in a large circle, sending flames everywhere, the dragon's body nothing more than a glowing white silhouette as his body began to seethe angrily with white-hot flames. A wave of destructive flames burst out of the dragon's body, causing Aaron to duck as flames burst through the hole he was looking out of. He began sweating immediately, and he felt his body heating up intensely as the white-hot flames burst through the stone bricks, licking around the hole and beginning to spread on the inside of the building. Aaron didn't know how the others were handling the fury, but he sure hoped they would be okay. Aaron scrambled backwards on his hands and knees, heading towards the back of the building, as another violent wave of flames burst unseen from the dragon's body to Aaron's eyes, only reaching his knowledge as the roaring of the inferno doubled in volume and the heat and light given off by the vigorously flickering flames increased immensely. Sparks began to fly and the stone began to crack and melt under the intense heat of the fire fury. Aaron's breath went hard, and he noticed now that he was trapped inside the building; the spreading white-hot flames obscuring the only exit in the building. The windows had stone pillars in them, meaning that Aaron couldn't get out through the window. A third violent wave of raging fire burst forth from the dragon's body, sending another roaring shockwave of flames to rush towards the building. The front of the building which Aaron had originally hidden behind crumbled and fell away as the flames ate the stone bricks. The white silhouette of the dragon was faintly visible as sparks and orange particles danced about angrily. Aaron knew there was no way out. If the dragon released another wave of flames, he would be done for. The white-hot flames would rush at him quicker than he could react, and he would be burned to a crisp. Luckily, the fourth wave didn't come. The dragon's body returned to normal, and the extra sparks and particles given off from his white-hot body disappeared, however, what remained was a burning building that was being devoured quickly by hungry, angry, white flames, and Aaron needed to get out.

Aaron let out a scream as dust began to rain down on him. Bricks were dislodged out of place in the wall next to him, and Aaron swore he could see scales through them. Obviously, a dragon had fallen backwards and landed on the building with such force it broke the wall. Aaron waited a good thirty seconds for the dragon to move, although it felt like five minutes as the fire raged closer and closer to Aaron's waiting form. Once the thirty seconds was over, Aaron ran towards the dislodged stone bricks and began hauling on them with all his might. He pulled one brick free, sending ten to fifteen extra loose bricks tumbling down with it. Aaron ran out of the burning building and rushed to where the others were; the fire dragons had moved off.

Hunter stood from behind a piece of roof from a stone building. Aaron and Hunter watched as the others emerged from their own hiding places. Schagorath and Karrivorn had hidden together in another stone building, and Ulfitz and Horilith had hidden underneath a metal bench that the flames had, luckily, somehow managed not to get underneath. "Is everyone alright?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Ulfitz and Horilith said, and Schagorath and Karrivorn mumbled in agreement.

"I guess so." Aaron said, shrugging; that was all he could say.

His face was blackened with soot and dust, his left arm wielded a large, bloody cut that he had received from the bricks that had fallen after he pulled one out of the broken wall. His right leg was bright red; it had gotten too close to the fire, although, lucky for Aaron, it was nothing worse than a severe sunburn. His long black hair was sticking out in random directions as the forceful winds from the shockwaves of fire sent it rushing backwards, and brown and white specks of dust had settled in his hair.

There was a sudden shrill scream. Aaron's head whipped around towards the sound. Schagorath, however, was the first to move. Aaron and Karrivorn followed the ape, and Hunter called out to Aaron, "We'll stay here and protect anyone else who needs help!"

Aaron didn't have time to respond as he whirled around a tight corner as Schagorath bolted towards where the shriek had come from, but Hunter knew that the human archer had heard him. The shrieking sounded again, and Aaron and Karrivorn gasped at the sight.

A young ape child, about two years old, was standing in the middle of a small plaza that was burning down, a fire and electric dragon ascending on it. Schagorath had run out in front of the child to protect it, but was knocked down by a swipe of the electric dragon's large claw. Aaron had no idea who the electric dragon was, it was most certainly not the one that attacked him in the forest, and then he noticed that the fire dragon was female, and he suddenly realised who it was. "Pyra?" Aaron whispered to himself.

Pyra, when Aaron had first met her, had mentioned that the cave he had stumbled across was _her_ cave. Her _home_. How did _Pyra_ end up in this invasion on Arriax? Aaron shook the thought from his head and stared at the two dragons.

He then looked back to where the ape child was standing, looking at Schagorath with horror as three large, bloodied claw marks stretched down his chest. He then noticed that Karrivorn had left his side and was now on her knees next to Schagorath, asking and checking desperately if Schagorath was okay. He was fully conscious and had managed to sit upright, but was unable to stand. Aaron noticed as the electric dragon's large maw opened and electricity began to crackle in between his jaws. Aaron felt his breath speed up rapidly as sweat began to cake his face. Aaron ran forward, letting out one loud scream as he leapt into the air, in front of the three apes, preparing for the impact of the strong electricity that had built up inside the electric dragon's maw.

It never came, and Aaron landed on the ground, hard, sending dust flying everywhere.

"What the…?" Aaron asked, looking behind him and gasping.

A large, dark purple figure, with large silver horns and a crimson underbelly, had leapt in front of Aaron, and taken the hit for him. "Cynder?!" Aaron asked.

Cynder gave Aaron a weak smile, and spoke. "Go, Aaron. Get them to safety." Cynder said, turning to confront the electric dragon and Pyra.

Aaron nodded and turned towards the ape child, picking her up and about to run off when he remembered the state Schagorath was in. "Schagorath, can you stand?" Aaron asked.

"I'll be fine. Take the kid and go. Karrivorn can help me." Schagorath groaned, wincing as Karrivorn helped her brother to his feet.

Aaron quickly turned and ran off, taking the petrified child with him. Schagorath slowly hobbled off with Karrivorn, their arms slung around each other's shoulders to keep Schagorath balanced. Cynder didn't take her eyes off Pyra and the electric dragon. "I knew when Spyro left with an army of dragons that it wasn't going to be good." Cynder said. "What I don't understand is how you knew where Arriax was and how Pyra got into this mess; you live outside of Warfang, in a _cave_ ; you _hate_ the city."

"I saw the dragon army and asked what they were doing. When they mentioned attacking apes, I insisted that I come along, to take out my revenge on the ape that stormed my cave and petrified me." Pyra said, a dark tone in her voice.

"Pyra, Aaron is _not_ an ape!" Cynder pleaded.

"Then tell me why he looks like one, you traitor!" Pyra scowled, breathing a powerful stream of fire at Cynder.

She hadn't been hit by an attack from the fire element in several years, since she and Spyro fought in Convexity. Memories flooded back into her head. Painful memories. The pain was increased as the seething fire melted through her scales. She _let_ it burn her. Cynder didn't want to fight. Her emotional pain was too great. She wanted the fighting to stop, and she hoped not fighting would stop it. She wanted to cry, but the heat from Pyra's attack was so strong that her tears evaporated before they left her eyes.

Cynder did the last thing she wanted to do. She released a loud shriek; her siren scream, which was immensely powerful, as was the rest of her attacks, and Spyro's, thanks to the immense amount of spirit gems they collected during the war. Pyra's fire breath stopped immediately and she fell to the ground, screaming with fear, clutching her head as tears streamed from her eyes as she was overcome with crushing fear. The electric dragon beside Pyra immediately became enraged. "You monster! That's my mate!" he roared.

 _Oh. I didn't know Pyra had a mate…_ Cynder thought. _Well I'm screwed._

Pyra's mate let out a deafening roar, which drowned out the screams of the apes and the roaring of the fire and explosions around her. Cynder felt the electricity hit her full-on, and she fell to the ground, convulsing violently and shouting in pain. The electricity kept coming. Pyra's mate wasn't holding back. She looked at him, and the look in his eyes was evident. He wanted her in as much pain as he could give to her. A scream tore from her throat. Then, there was the sound of a second beam of electricity. Cynder felt the crackling energy cease entering her body, and as her heart rate began to calm down and her convulsing began to cease, she looked up and saw Volteer standing next to her. "Don't you risk deliberately pondering of harming Cynder once more, you comprehend that?!" Volteer shouted.

Pyra's mate groaned in pain, trying to lift his head, then slumped back down on the ground as he put a shaking paw on his petrified mate to try and comfort her. Cynder watched as Pyra's fearful shrieks began to die down, and she immediately felt bad.

"That was tremendously perilous and unnecessary, doing what you did!" Volteer scolded Cynder.

"I'm sorry, that was the only thing that came to mind!" Cynder apologised.

"I'm speaking about pursuing Spyro's army…! Ancestors, that seems so _wrong_ to say! And so… preposterous." Volteer corrected, shaking his head at the thought of saying that Spyro had an army. "How did this even _happen_?!"

"Again, I'm sorry! But I knew that if they did end up finding Arriax, which I knew they were trying to find after I heard some conversation, that the apes would be in deep trouble, _and_ Aaron and the cheetahs if they were here, and I was right!" Cynder argued.

"You _do_ have a good point! Now you go after Aaron and the kid! I'll make sure the other apes are alright!" Volteer ordered.

"Right!" Cynder said, trying to find the way that Aaron had run off with the ape child.


	28. Chapter 27: Spyro's Attack

**I FINISHED _BROKEN PERCEPTIONS_!**

 **I'm sorry, I had to scream that out loud. I finished writing the Epilogue of the story, so now I can focus on my other fanfic while updating _Broken Perceptions_. The update algorithm will be the same, with an upload whenever I finish a chapter. The other fanfic is going well, and I'm about half-way through Chapter 20 of it, so a new chapter of _Broken Perceptions_ should be coming soon. The other fanfic is much better, though, and will be much longer. I'm a lot more happy with it than this one, but this fanfic still has some things in it that I'm proud of.**

 **Not many reviews to answer to, but I'm glad that 'LoNeWoLf' thought the Tarzan yell reference last chapter was funny. I wasn't intending it in that way; it was just meant to explain how young that dragon was, but if you thought it was funny, then that's good, I guess…**

 **Anyway, a bit of a short chapter this time (part of last chapter was originally meant to be in this one, but I edited a bit too much without realising it, so yeah, lucky you I guess for getting more than intended). More action in this chapter, and for the next three or so chapters.**

* * *

Aaron ran through the narrow alleyways of Arriax, dodging cinders that fell off the burning buildings, as well as crumbling bits of stone bricks and burning wood. The ape child he was carrying was beginning to cry, and he knew there was no point trying to calm her down; he needed to get her to safety, and that was an immediate priority given that it had barely been ten minutes of the fight when they had heard the child's fearful shriek for help.

He found the ending to the alleyway, and in through the ending, he saw complete darkness, apart from the glimmering water that reflected the bright orange light from the burning ape city. _If I can get out of the city and hide the kid somewhere over there, she'll be safe!_ Aaron thought, his thoughts lingering only on getting the ape child to safety.

However, before Aaron could make it out to the other side, a wall of purple scales appeared in front of him, causing him to shout as he screeched to a stop, the ape child burying her face into Aaron's shoulder and letting out a petrified squeal. "Time's up, ape." Spyro scowled, a sadistic smile etched across his lips.

Aaron let out a scream as he turned and ran back through the alleyway, hoping that Spyro would lose him through the narrowness of the alleyway. That wasn't the case, however, as green scales appeared on the other side of the alleyway, and then came the voice of the earth guardian, "You're trapped, ape. There's nowhere to run."

Aaron felt his breath leave him as he realised the severity of the situation he was in. _Time's up. You're trapped. Nowhere to run._ Spyro and Terrador's words echoed through his head.

 _Gosh, this is sounding so much like something from a horror game. Those lines!_ Aaron thought. _I need to get out of here!_

Aaron felt the ground vibrating underneath him as he saw the ground cracking and rippling towards him from Spyro's direction. He looked over towards Terrador, who had reared, ready to slam his paws on the ground and crush Aaron and the child with the immense earth power. Not even caring that there was a child in his arms, he screamed out a strong curse word and looked around franticly. A building beside him that was burning and deteriorating fast, had broken apart and left a large hole in the wall facing the alleyway. Not taking any chances, Aaron dived through the hole in the wall and took cover as he heard the resonating crack of Spyro and Terrador's powers colliding, knowing that he would have been a bloody pulp of flesh and bones if he had stayed there.

Aaron struggled to his feet and ran off through the burning buildings, transitioning through about three buildings as they all had holes burned or smashed out of their outer walls, connecting them into one big alleyway. The fourth building Aaron came into, Aaron realised, had been caved in, and was large. It was obviously some sort of council or business building, given the height of it. All the exits and windows had been blocked off with large piles of rubble and brick, and the only other exits there was were blocked off by fire and falling dust, meaning that there was loose stone above the exit. Aaron looked up. The building had a large hole slammed out of the top of the four-storey building. Aaron turned to run up the flight of stairs that went to the next floor, but when he reached half-way up the staircase, the fragile flight of stairs cracked and broke in half, collapsing in front of him. He could still get back down to the ground, but the last half of the stairs that led towards the second floor was completely demolished, weakened by the fire. Aaron looked about frantically to see what to do. He didn't want to go down to the ground floor. There was no way out apart from the way he came.

Then Aaron saw some slightly dislodged bricks in the wall, that were sturdy and firm, acting much like climbing stones. "Hold onto my back tight." Aaron said to the ape child he was carrying, and she willingly did so.

And with that, Aaron grabbed a hold of the dislodged bricks, and began to climb up them. He realised as he made his way up, that the fire had been so bad on the opposite wall of the building that the worst of the fire was collecting on the second floor of the large stone building, making it incredibly unsafe to stand on. The staircase between the second and third floor was completely burned down as well. That meant Aaron had to keep climbing.

And continue climbing he did. Aaron made his way up onto the third floor safely, getting onto his hands and knees and panting heavily. The ape, overcome with fear, stayed on Aaron's back, clinging on tight. Aaron looked up and saw the small hole was now significantly larger than it had been, mostly because he was now a lot closer to it. Aaron was about to find his way up to the fourth and final floor before leaping out of the gaping hole in the wall, when a roaring explosion of dust and rubble came from nowhere, sending shattered bricks raining upon Aaron and the child. Aaron stumbled backwards, trying to shield both himself and the ape from the raining rubble. A voice spoke, "I know you're in there, ape. I can control earth. I can feel your vibrations in the ground."

The way Spyro spoke was chilling, and unnatural for his normally gentle, composed demeanour. Now, Spyro seemed almost sadistic and willing to kill. Aaron guessed it was because he was going against apes, but the change of the demeanour was extremely unnecessary. Maybe he wanted payback on Aaron for a breakdown in social activity in Warfang, as lots of dragons were beginning to freak out with the rumours of the apes returning. Spyro spoke again. "Come out, ape, and it'll make it easier for the both of us."

Aaron wanted to get out, but only to escape the building. If Spyro attacked the already fragile building anymore, it would collapse on itself and crush both Aaron and the child. Aaron couldn't tell if Terrador was still there or not, but after about two seconds of wondering that thought, Terrador spoke quietly, in a very taunting, yet impatient fashion. "We're waiting…"

"Stop being so creepy!" Aaron screamed, running towards the even bigger hole and leaping out of it.

The world seemed to go in slow motion for the next few seconds for Aaron. As he leapt out of the building, he saw Spyro and Terrador, their heads merely one metre underneath him. He noticed another small building in the distance, and Aaron hoped he would make it to the top of the tiny building, which couldn't have been any more than a wooden shack. A few earth missiles shot from Terrador's gaping maw, followed by a few shards of ice that rushed from Spyro's jaws. They all missed, to Aaron's luck. Not knowing what else to do to stop the attack, Aaron grabbed an arrow from his quiver, but kept his bow strapped around his shoulder, as the ape child's grip would make it too hard to take it off. With barely any thought, Aaron threw the arrow like a spear towards Terrador. The earth guardian was too slow to close his mouth after the onslaught of earth missiles, and with Aaron's aim being off (his original target being Terrador's nose), the arrow soared into Terrador's mouth and down his throat.

Terrador reared in pain as he balanced (quite well in fact) on his hind legs, bringing his forepaws up to his neck, where it bled profusely from inside as the arrow wedged itself inside his gullet, letting out a gurgling roar. Luckily for the dragon, the arrow hadn't gone too far down his throat, but it would take one brave mole to try and take the arrow out; a dragon could not possibly fit their paw down there, and there was no better way to remove it without a significant amount of blood loss.

Aaron quietly apologised, but there was no way Terrador or Spyro would have heard the apology, nor would they have believed it or accepted. Aaron looked forward again and let out a scream. He wasn't going to make it to the small shack. He closed his eyes, as did the ape child clinging onto his shoulders, and braced for the impact.

It softer than he thought. Nothing broke underneath him. And it didn't feel like would.

Aaron opened his eyes and saw Volteer looking at him with a smile. Aaron had landed safely on the electric guardian's back. Aaron nodded a thank you and stood up, leaping towards the small wooden shack and landing on it. Aaron ran across several small shacks before finding a safe place to land on solid ground, running of safely. Aaron heard Spyro chasing after him; he half expected the purple dragon would, and he continued going.

"You won't be able to escape!" Spyro shouted. "I defeated Malefor, _ape_! I should be able to defeat a measly ape like you!"

Aaron shook his head with worry. He needed to get to safety; he was even more in danger out here in battle than the _real_ apes were. But he needed to get the ape child to safety first, but that was almost impossible.

Aaron picked his pace up into a sprint. The child let out a shrill scream of absolute fear, and Aaron made a very sharp turn to the right. Spyro couldn't make such a sharp turn, as he slid forwards, slamming into two or three large huts.

* * *

 **Well, Terrador's in a tough spot. A bit of a shorter chapter next (shorter than this one) as we check on how Terrador's doing. A bit of a break from the action and violence, but that's mainly to keep the tension up (I'm mean that way… he he). Anyway, I'll see you guys next chapter, I guess.**


	29. Chapter 28: Wrong Side of the Slaughter

**Took a while to get back into writing my other fanfic. I'm glad I don't have to hold back like I have been anymore. My goal for that fanfic is to be as intense as possible, and it's quite gory. I want this one to stay rated T, so I had to hold back a little, although it was a little easier given how less intense the fight scenes even later in _Broken Perceptions_ are compared to the other one. Well, Chapter 20 of that fanfic is done, a good solid 4600 words, so here's another chapter for you all.**

 **To 'Fredrik the astral dragon', I've already PMed you about this, but I'll say it here in case others are thinking the same thing. I could upload almost every chapter of _Broken Perceptions_ at once, since I've finished writing it, but I want to take it a bit slower. I still need to edit each chapter, too, and that's quite time consuming. And I wouldn't be able to focus on the other fanfic I'm writing. So I'm doing it the same way as when I was writing _Broken Perceptions_ , a chapter will be uploaded once I finish writing a chapter in the other fanfic. I really don't want to rush this.**

 **As for one of the guests that reviewed about Terrador swallowing the arrow, I kinda wanted to be harsh to him. Cyril's gotten harsh treatment, as has Volteer, although not as savage as Terrador and Cyril, but Terrador was the only guardian left out, and this was the best way to get him in trouble. Four outbursts of pure rage in a few days kinda deserves something like this, I guess…**

 **And the other guest who's complaining about short chapters, how about _you_ try writing a fanfic? It's not easy. You get the short chapters, and you get the long ones, and last chapter just happened to be one of the shorter ones. Or try reading the more popular fanfics that have chapters with 6000-10 000 words per chapter. I don't know how the authors consecutively do chapters that long; it's hard to come up with that much stuff, but hey, that's what I'm getting at.**

 **Long ranting over, though, let's see how Terrador's doing.**

* * *

"Are you alright, Terrador?" Volteer asked.

Terrador tried to speak, but it came out in a gargled slur of sounds. Terrador suddenly lurched his head down towards the ground as he dry heaved violently, coughing up large amounts of blood as he did so. With a heavy effort, Terrador spoke, rather hoarsely. "Does it look like I'm okay, you lump of traitorous scum?"

Volteer was about to answer, when he was interrupted by another series of bloody coughing fits from Terrador. "Alright, I reason that we need to get you out of here. The additional impairment that could be exerted onto you could be frightening and tremendously hazardous in your current state." Volteer said.

Terrador tried to hold in another series of coughs, but after his jaws took too much of the pressure from the bloody rage from his coughs and dry heaving, they were forced open and gushes of blood spurted out of his mouth. Terrador nodded weakly, before putting a paw to his throat painfully.

"Quickly, let's get back to Warfang." Volteer said, putting a wing around Terrador before beginning to cough himself as a large explosion shook the ground, sending plumes of smoke rising uncontrollably into the air.

The sounds of screaming and roaring was deafening, and Volteer had decided to lead Terrador out and around the destroyed ape city to get him safely out of Arriax. Volteer found it hard not to go and help the apes. He loved helping people in trouble. But Terrador was like a brother to him, and Terrador was in such a bad spot at the moment that he needed to be evacuated from Arriax. Volteer and Terrador reached the large ladder on the outskirts of Arriax, and Terrador seemed almost reluctant to go up out of the hole.

"I can't fly…" Terrador rasped, choking on the blood running down his gullet. "…the wind will hurt my neck."

"You have to. I don't expect you to fly all the way to Warfang, but to get out of here, you _need_ to." Volteer convinced Terrador. "The ladder is way too thin for either of us to climb up out of."

Terrador was still hesitant about flying. Knowing that the wind would put pressure on him, especially his badly wounded neck, discouraged him from flying, knowing that the pain would be incredibly excruciating.

Another explosion roared, lighting up the cave with a bright yellow light, and rubble flew everywhere. "Terrador, we need to go. _Now_." Volteer urged.

Terrador spread his wings out, shaking vigorously in fear, and he leapt up the large rock face, catching the wind on his wings as he flew up the rock face. Terrador grit his fangs as his neck moved with his body as it went from a diagonal slope from his standing position to a vertical line as his entire body sped upwards, moving the flesh inside his throat and, as a result, causing the arrow to move as well, catching onto more flesh and digging deeper into his throat, making the wound deeper and causing more blood to stream out of the wound.

Volteer gave one last look at Arriax, thinking to himself, _Please, Aaron and Cynder. Stay safe._

Volteer then turned and followed Terrador, leaping up into the air. He felt his own neck change position, and he could only imagine having an arrow wedged inside the flesh inside his throat, and he cringed at the thought of how much pain Terrador was going through.

In the meantime, Terrador had begun to grit his teeth so hard that a few fang-tips dug into the fleshy gums, drawing small beads of dark red liquid. The wind battered against Terrador, and the heat of the burning city left him as he burst into the warm afternoon.

Terrador landed, and felt the pain in his neck sear through his nerves again, even stronger than when he began his flight. Terrador groaned in pain, fighting back the stinging tears that began to form at his eyelids. Terrador was known to be the one to never show his emotions. He'd already had four outbursts of rage in the past week. He couldn't be seen crying, not by Volteer, and not even if they were tears of pain, rather than emotional tears.

Volteer landed behind him, and Terrador swallowed, an attempt to stop his tears forming and to bring back his emotionless composure. It only made everything worse as the saliva slid down his throat and collected on the stinging blood that was still dripping down the fleshy hole in his neck, and the tears formed quicker. Terrador growled loudly and painfully, gritting his fangs and shutting his eyes tight.

Volteer put a wing around Terrador and began to walk forward. Terrador began to take a few shaky steps, before catching up slowly with Volteer as they walked slowly, side-by-side, towards Warfang. It wasn't long before they passed by the Cheetah Village. Terrador had lost most of his strength by then, the pain seizing all of his nerves, and his legs gave way. Terrador's neck moved as he fell, and an agonising, surprisingly high-pitched scream ripped out of his throat as the arrow moved once again.

Several cheetahs had heard Terrador's scream of anguish, and they ran out into the open to find the two guardians; Volteer with a petrified expression on his face, and Terrador on the verge of tears, the torturous pain getting way too much for the earth guardian to withstand.

"What's wrong?" one of the cheetahs asked.

"Terrador's got an arrow wedged in his throat. We're heading to Warfang to get the arrow removed." Volteer said.

"We can help." another cheetah suggested.

"It's more of a mole job." Volteer refused.

"No. We _can_ help. We can put a brace around Terrador's neck to stop it from moving. It'll have to be removed by the time you get to Warfang, however." the cheetah explained.

Volteer looked down at Terrador, who was struggling to breathe as red foam began to form at his lips, before he retched, throwing up large amounts of blood. Volteer could see the painful tears streaming down Terrador's face, the earth guardian unable to keep them in anymore. Soft, hoarse whimpers came from Terrador's throat before he threw up blood once more.

Volteer looked back to the cheetah and nodded, saying two words. "Do it."

* * *

 _Please be okay, Aaron!_ Cynder thought frantically as she ran around Arriax, looking frantically for Aaron.

She slid clumsily around corners, slamming into old wooden shacks, saying to herself that it didn't matter and that they were burning anyway. She turned around a corner before letting out a startled shriek as she and a vibrant golden body collided. The two dragonesses toppled over, the electric dragoness landing uncomfortably on top of Cynder. "Sorry." Cynder apologised, before realising who the dragoness was.

Her name was Chryss, meaning 'gold' in the ancient language of the ancestors, as her bright scales were more gold than they were yellow. She and Cynder had become friends several months prior, when Cynder had helped Chryss overcome her crippling depression that she had had for the final three years after the war after her family had been killed by Malefor's forces. Chryss hadn't known of Cynder's past, and, even after Cynder had explained to Chryss what she had done, the golden electric dragoness had refused to believe Cynder because of how kind and gentle she was, knowing that there was no trace of the monster that was the Terror of the Skies inside the dark purple dragoness.

"Chryss? What are you doing here?" Cynder asked.

"What do you think? Avenging my family! While it may not have been the apes that killed my family, they were still Malefor's main army before the grublins came!" Chryss scowled, standing up shakily and helping Cynder to her feet. "What are you doing here, Cynder?"

"Me? I'm trying to _stop_ this invasion!" Cynder explained. "It's _wrong_!"

"Oh, right." Chryss said sarcastically, looking at Cynder with a hard glare. "Just like the hundreds of invasions on Warfang were wrong. The type of invasion that killed my family."

Cynder took a step backwards, unprepared for the vicious tone in Chryss' voice, one that she had not heard in her voice since they became friends. Chryss' voice rose dramatically as she continued to speak, "I don't _care_ if this is wrong! The apes deserve this! You have no idea how much trouble these idiots have caused in the past!"

"I DO!" Cynder screamed, causing the shy golden dragoness to leap back in fear, for she had seen Cynder angry before and she didn't like it one bit. "I keep telling you, _I am the Terror of the Skies that you heard so many stories about!_ I LED THE APE FORCES! I KNOW BETTER THAN _ANYONE_ WHAT THEY DID!"

"Even if you _were_ the Terror of the Skies, you're different! You treated me with so much kindness that the monster that you speak of doesn't exist in you!" Chryss argued. "You have no trace of that monster in you!"

" _Exactly!_ You gave _me_ a chance, as did many of the _other_ dragons! Give the _apes_ a chance!" Cynder pleaded.

Cynder opened her mouth to continue, but she was interrupted by Chryss' flustered squeal. "You seriously are asking me to give the monsters of Malefor a chance?!" Chryss screamed. "Are you _really_ asking me to do that!"

"They have changed! They've learned their lesson from their curse!" Cynder cried. "Like me, they've changed! I've seen it first-hand! _You're_ seeing it first-hand! Does fleeing from their homes and running around screaming seem like _normal_ ape behaviour to you?!"

"Well… n-n-no…" Chryss stammered.

"Exactly my point!" Cynder said firmly, but gently. "The apes are going through what _I_ am going through! They're changing, they're free from darkness, and they don't know what to do because they have the _freedom_ that they _never_ had! They hid from the world for fear that they would still be seen as monsters, like _I_ once was, only since I was a dragon, our _own kind_ , I guess that's why I was accepted, and the apes _never will be_ if this keeps up! Give them a chance, Chryss!"

"No. They're servants of Malefor, even now. And servants of Malefor killed my family! _They don't deserve to live!_ " Chryss shrieked, running forward and barging past Cynder, leaving the dark purple dragoness watching in horror as the deranged dragoness ran off to find some apes to kill.

Then, Cynder's thoughts were ripped from her mind as a very masculine shout roared from the distance. It sounded all too familiar to her. She remembered the sound of those same screams from the craziness that burst out in the Warfang prison only four days earlier. One name came into Cynder's mind.

 _Aaron._

* * *

 **Decided to switch to Cynder half-way through this because I can. Trivia fact, I got the name 'Chryss' from the Greek word 'chrysós', which means gold.**

 **Anyway, that's it for now. See you next chapter.**


	30. Chapter 29: Death

**Here's another chapter for you. Still writing Chapter 21 of my other fanfic because it's slightly harder to work on it after spending so long working on _Broken Perceptions_ again, and also because I had to spend a lot of time rewriting the end of Chapter 20 because I forgot a _really_ important part of the sequence I was writing, and it _needed_ to be there. **

**I want to answer a good question a guest asked, and it's a very common misconception that most people have with dragons and reptiles and stuff, so if you're not prepared for half a science essay, skip to the next paragraph of the A/N, or go straight onto the chapter if you will. I'm not much of a science nerd either, but this is actually really interesting. The guest asked if dragons (reptiles), had green blood, due to my use of saying 'red blood' in the previous chapter (normally I just say 'blood' or something). After a bit of research, I found out that reptiles actually _do_ have red blood. But there is a type of reptile that actually _does_ have green blood, called the _Prasinohaema_ skink, which lives in Papua New Guinea. Apparently, the skins have a really high concentration of the bile pigment 'biliverdin', which is actually quite toxic, which is why we don't have it in our blood. The red hue of our blood is from haemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout our bodies, as does many other reptiles. When haemoglobin breaks down, it's transported to the liver where it turns into biliverdin and bilirubin, which as I mentioned earlier, are bile pigmentations. The biliverdin has a green hue, which is why the _Prasinohaema_ skinks have green blood. They're actually the only vertebrae to have green blood. It's unknown why these skinks aren't affected by the biliverdin in the blood, as it is toxic, but it's hypothesised by a National Geographic explorer that it could be so that it can protect itself against a group of parasites called _Plasmodium_ , which can cause malaria, and it's possible that having biliverdin in the blood instead of haemoglobin could be making it harder for _Plasmodium_ to infect the skinks. So that's my answer. If you want more info, look it up; it's actually really interesting. Anyway, science essay over, so meh, onto more reviews. Hope that answered your question, unnamed guest that asked the question (wow that was a really awkward last sentence).**

 **And to 'LoNeWoLf' and unnamed guest (the same one – I'm not sure), I'm actually glad you're starting up conversations. It's good to see people talking and speculating about stuff (I'm not giving anything away), and I love seeing your ideas. And 'LoNeWoLf', you _may_ be taking hating the dragons a little _too_ far, ha ha. They're not all that bad, trust me. This whole situation will get better, but in time. We're about half-way through the story actually, probably more than that, so things will start getting better (before a climax of things going terribly wrong first, if they aren't already so lol).**

 **Anyway, whopper of an A/N over, onto the chapter. You may be able to guess what's gonna happen by the... *ahem*... very obvious chapter title.**

* * *

Schagorath sucked air through his gritted teeth with pain as Karrivorn wrapped some cloth around his torso, covering up the three huge, ugly scratches that went down from the left side of his chest to the right side of his waist. They had wedged themselves inside two freely standing huts where the dragons wouldn't be able to find them. It was uncomfortable and awkward, but it had to do; Schagorath couldn't keep going on in the fight with an ugly wound like his. "Will you be alright?" Karrivorn asked.

"I'll be fine. We should probably go and see someone who can deal with this properly after the battle." Schagorath rasped.

"It'll have to be someone outside of Arriax. Since we haven't had anything to do with war or battle in two years, we haven't had any need for medical attention. Plus, Malefor gave us the secrets on how to harness the dragon energy from the spirit gems that lie around the place. We've never really needed a medical specialist." Karrivorn explained.

"Wait, say that again!" Schagorath said, picking up something Karrivorn had said.

"Um… We've never really needed a medical specialist?" Karrivorn asked, confused.

"No, not that! Malefor told us how to harness the dragon energy inside the spirit gems! That includes the red ones!" Schagorath said hoarsely, trying not to say it too loudly in case a dragon overheard him.

Karrivorn's eyes widened with understanding. She took in a deep breath as she looked out into the battlefield which was Arriax, and saw two apes, hobbling off into the distance towards two more buildings, holding each other up with their arms around their shoulders as their wounds bled profusely. She looked back to Schagorath and asked, "Do you know how to do it?"

"No, I was never taught how to. But some of the older apes might still remember how! We can only hope that at least one of them will remember!" Schagorath replied.

"That is, if anyone makes it out of this…" Karrivorn deadpanned, looking out into the fray again.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and rubble began to rain down from overhead. "They're really doing a good job trying to destroy this place!" Karrivorn scowled, putting her hands over her head as dust rained down on them, several chunks of burning wood or cracked stone landing either side of them.

"Why else would they be doing this? To exterminate the ape race! Plus, how many countless times did we do this? To them, an opportunity like this only seems fair!" Schagorath said. "We need to get out of here before we're crushed!"

Schagorath and Karrivorn slowly made their way through the two buildings they were in between, ducking as dust rained on them and rubble fell with a slam on the ground. They could see that the wooden shack on their left was burning quickly, the fire licking around the roof and sparks flying down onto the front of the building, setting fire to it. The two apes began to cough as the smoke and dust began to collect in the very thin alleyway, and the heaving movement of the chest caused pain to seethe through Schagorath's body, his wound rubbing uncomfortably on the cloth, which was old and coarse, but it was the only resource Karrivorn had to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.

They made it out of the alleyway, and almost instantly got themselves in a fight with a dragon. The dragon was young, only about fourteen or fifteen, and his scales yellow, the bright colour dulled by the soot and dust that had settled on him, and Schagorath recognised him from before.

The electric dragon spoke. "You! It's you again! _You're_ the ape that leaked us all the information about this! We couldn't thank you enough!" he said with a chuckle.

"You _what_?!" Karrivorn asked; this was the first time she had heard of this.

"It was an accidental slip; I didn't mean to! How'd you figure all this out?!" Schagorath asked the dragon.

"You don't think that we've noticed strange behaviours in Cynder and, more recently, Volteer? They're distant, Cynder's always missing from Warfang, and Volteer is so protective of anything to do with this topic of apes and stuff! It was _obvious_ once you told me the information, which I gladly told to Spyro!" the dragon explained with a scowl.

"How'd you know where to find us?" Karrivorn asked, her voice quivering.

"After word of the apes returning, Spyro sent out a couple scouts; one went to the Cheetah Village, and supposedly saw your ape friend and those four cheetahs enter here. The scout returned, and we invaded, easily done!" the dragon chuckled.

Schagorath shook his head with fear. He suddenly reached for his sheathed sword, pulling it out of the scabbard he had been smart to pick up with his sword, which sung with a long metal ringing sound. Karrivorn held her axe in her hand, which she picked up after setting it down in the alleyway. "It seems you want to kill me." the dragon scoffed. "Typical."

"Not kill." Schagorath corrected. " _Hinder_."

The electric dragon was the first to move. There was a long swipe of his claw, which Schagorath swiftly dodged. Then the dragon aimed a second swipe, this time at Karrivorn. Not caring to dodge, only wanting to get out of the mess they were in, she raised her axe and slammed it into the dragon's paw, blood squirting everywhere.

Not even waiting to try and pull the axe out of the dragon's now red paw, Karrivorn grabbed Schagorath by the arm and ran off. "What are you doing, Karrivorn?! You left your axe behind!" Schagorath pointed out.

"Fighting won't work for us now! They're too strong! The only thing we can do now is hide!" Karrivorn said as she sprinted forward, Schagorath trying to keep up frantically, sheathing his sword to make it easier to run.

They rounded a corner and almost ran into another dragon's paws. Schagorath was quick to lean back and pull his sister back behind the corner, pushing their backs against the wall as to not be seen. The dragon quickly ran towards the young electric dragon who had managed to rip the axe out of his paw with his teeth, fountains of blood pouring out of the wound. The ape siblings saw their chance and sprinted down the corner, finding an odd building that wasn't burning. Luckily, it was a stone building, and wouldn't catch on fire like the wooden huts and shacks that covered the majority of Arriax, for only the very important buildings were made of stone. Schagorath and Karrivorn ran inside it, running deep inside the darkness of the building, hiding under a large table.

Schagorath looked at his sister with concern, as Karrivorn began to shake nervously. "Karrivorn, are you okay?" Schagorath asked in a soft whisper.

"I'm scared. Everything we worked so hard to make… gone. We worked so hard for our peace. And it's just been completely overrun by dragons." Karrivorn said, staring at the ground in front of her as eerie orange lights lit up in the room through the window, explosions and fire roaring loudly and spreading quickly and violently. "Now I know how _they_ felt…"

Schagorath put an arm around Karrivorn's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Schagorath said with determination.

"What about us?" a young voice piped up.

Schagorath and Karrivorn looked behind them and saw a young male ape, about four years old, standing in the darkness. "Hey, kid. What are you doing here?" Schagorath asked.

"Hiding." the child whimpered.

"Wait, hold on. The child said 'us'. I can only see one. There must be more somewhere." Karrivorn whispered with shock in her voice.

"My brother and sister and mum…" the child sobbed weakly.

Schagorath looked at Karrivorn, his jaw lowered in shock. Then he looked back at the child. The child stood about three metres from them, cloaked in darkness, his silhouette only visible from the close distance Schagorath and Karrivorn were, and his eyes reflecting the orange light of flames that shone through the window. The child's arms were wrapped around his body as he shook in fear. A small sniffle came from the child, and Schagorath realised the poor thing was crying. _Crying_. He'd never seen an ape cry before.

A roaring explosion took hold of the terrifying ambience of screams, roars and crackling fire, lighting up the room with orange light. The child visibly flinched as a small whine came from his small throat. Schagorath and Karrivorn exchanged one concerned look before Schagorath stepped out from under the table when the room darkened again, Karrivorn following suit.

"Can you take us to your family?" Schagorath asked.

The small child nodded and ran off further into the darkness, running down a flight of stairs that went into some sort of basement. Schagorath and Karrivorn quickly followed. It was almost pitch-black in there, yet three silhouettes could be seen. Two more children, the first child's siblings, and a larger figure, presumably the mother, slumped uncomfortably on a large table. One of the three children, a female, and possibly the oldest, asked in a cautious tone, "Are you here to help?"

Schagorath was about to say that he didn't know what she was talking about, until he heard a weak rasping sound coming from the larger figure. Schagorath mumbled quietly. He didn't know the meaning what he'd just said, but only the colourful, peculiar language Aaron had used in the dragon assault in the forest the night before seemed appropriate for the grimness and severity of the situation. Had he known what the word he'd just muttered meant, he wouldn't have used it around a family of small children and their mother.

He ran quickly to the mother and saw, as he got closer, that she was coated in unending rivers of blood. As soon as he got to the side of the table, he put a paw around the mother's bloodied wrist, trying to find a pulse. The situation was not looking good; the pulse was extremely faint.

The mother quickly exploded into fits of coughs, spitting out blood as she did so. Karrivorn pulled the children close to her as they trembled in her arms. Schagorath tried desperately to calm the mother down, her frightened and frantic breathing not helping the situation much.

Schagorath's heart fell. The apes didn't need doctors or medical specialists, as they hadn't been in a fight for two years, so there were none. And Schagorath had no idea how to fix wounds of this severity. He didn't even know if one could still live from losing this much blood. The mother took in a shuddering breath, and Schagorath knew she was trying to speak. "No, no. Don't speak. You'll make it worse." Schagorath pleaded.

The mother spoke anyway. "Please… take care of my children. Their father's dead… and I might be too. Just let them know that… I love them." she said, before her head slumped sideways and the pulse faded.

Schagorath felt his eyes well up with… tears, were they called? This was the first time he had experienced death without the heartless tone that apes used to carry with them. Had this still been during the war, he wouldn't have cared about what happened to the three kids, nor would he be feeling grief for someone that he didn't know.

Schagorath stood up and wiped his eyes with his arm, his paws covered in the dead ape's blood from when he had tried desperately to find a pulse. He wiped his paws on another table nearby, wiping the blood off them, and walked towards Karrivorn and the three children. "I-I'm sorry." Schagorath said, before feeling a tear, his first ever tear of emotion, drip down his cheek.

The oldest child, the female, began to weep, burying her face in Karrivorn's furry arm. The two male children, the younger two, stood in silence, not knowing what had happened, not understanding what death was. Karrivorn knelt on her knees, bringing the three children down to the ground with her. "Look at me. Who was the dragon that did this to you?" Karrivorn asked gently.

"Purple…" the youngest whimpered.

Schagorath felt his face heat up. _I thought Spyro was meant to be a hero. He wouldn't kill like this. The war was flipping different._ Schagorath thought, using another one of Aaron's human words. _Cynder's right. Something's wrong with him._

Schagorath muttered another curse word, still unsure what it meant. He walked up the staircase and back up into the main room that he and Karrivorn had entered and originally hid in. "Schagorath, where are you going?" Karrivorn asked.

"I'm going to stay up here so that we know when this horror is done. I'm not going outside, I promise." Schagorath said.

"Be careful up there." Karrivorn said.

"I will. Now go hide." Schagorath said, going and hiding under the table he and Karrivorn had been hiding in earlier, the perfect view of the windows in his sight.

* * *

Hunter watched from the cavern as Arriax burned. He, Archer, Ulfitz and Horilith had evacuated almost all of the ape population from Arriax, taking them all into the water-filled caverns behind Arriax a bit deeper into the cave. He could hear screams and roaring, proof that enough apes were still running about the city that the dragons could still find them, and he wondered how many apes were still in Arriax, concern gripping his heart.

He was also worried for Aaron. He was the closest family and friend he had. His family had either died or ignored him completely when he was young, he couldn't remember, and he had no family because of that. He had a hard time making friends as a cub because his mind developed a lot quicker than other cubs. He was heaps more mature for his age than the other cubs, and they deemed him to much of an adult to hang out with the rest of the cubs. And he struggled to make friends now since he was one of the highest-ranked archers in the cheetah military, and when he wasn't doing military stuff, he was either training or hunting for food. Aaron was the closest friend he had. Sure, he had acquaintanceships with the dragons and the other cheetahs, although he was mainly acquainted with the dragons because he was under the guardians, and it was his job to try and find Spyro and Cynder during the three-year time period that the young dragons and Sparx were in the Time Crystal. He was only acquainted with the other cheetahs as he had just met them; they hadn't known each other long enough to be friends. Sure, that was the same with Aaron, but the two had had more time to bond, and they bonded well. Even though it was apprentice and mentor, the two archers had quite an intimate friendship forming between them. Hunter couldn't lose that now. Not with all the isolation he had dealt with in his childhood.

"Hunter." a voice said.

Hunter turned around and saw Archer walking up to him, blood on his paws. "We've got a lot of wounded here. Not only that, but one of them has died of blood loss. Another is quite close." Archer explained, a grave expression on his face.

As Archer mentioned the death of an ape, a loud howl ripped through the air, before getting muffled as a paw was placed over the mouth of the howler so that their hiding spot in the caverns wouldn't be discovered. _Someone close to the dead one._ Hunter thought, sighing grimly.

"Take me to see the one close to death." Hunter said.

Archer nodded and walked off into the darkness, with Hunter following, both wearing grim expressions. Hunter looked around the eight hundred or so apes that he and the cheetahs had evacuated. They were all covered in bruises, burns and blood as tears streamed from the eyes of several apes; from pain or emotion, Hunter couldn't tell. Several apes were washing their wounds in the rushing water, which began to go red with blood, and others just sat there, either waiting their turn for room at the river or just not even bothering to wash their wounds, which bled at different severities, depending on the state of the wounds that they had. Hunter's heart sunk. _This wasn't supposed to happen._ he thought.

They came up to an ape lying on the ground, alone, covered in huge fountains of gushing blood. Half of his teeth had been knocked out, leaving his pink gums red with blood. Hunter could only stare at the ape's condition in horror as he choked out the only words he could think of. "You'll be fine."

Hunter mentally kicked himself. The ape was clothed in his own blood. _Of_ course _he'll be fine, you dimwit._ Hunter thought sarcastically, a scowl entering his face. _That was stupid of you to say._

Archer spoke, and it was something quite useful, "Who did this to you?"

"The one… the one of p… p… purp… p-p-purple s-s-scales…" the ape stammered, spitting up blood as he tried to pronounce the word 'purple'.

Hunter and Archer exchanged horrified looks, before looking at the ape, who lay motionless, his chest still and eyes closed, head slumped sideways on the red and rocky ground. Hunter felt tears sting his eyes. "How could he? That's not the Spyro I knew." Hunter choked, emotion filling every tone in his voice. His expression was one of grief, before it melted into one of hate and anger.

* * *

 **So there's the deaths we've been waiting for. Three apes are gone, and Spyro's at fault here. I'm just going to… sit here chuckling evilly while you get angry and figure out why this is happening, and while you wait even longer for the next part of the action sequence (the next chapter's the last part of it, so after next chapter, we're back to fillers and minor action sequences, although the minor action sequences will be much more frequent).**


	31. Chapter 30: Murder!

**Ha ha, 'LoNeWoLf', you didn't need to apologise for your hate against the dragons. I was just stating that you _may_ have taken it too far. May have. Maybe not. And Spyro may get in trouble, but it's truly Aaron who's gonna be in trouble this chapter.**

 **'Derick Lindsey' also brought up some good speculations. I'm not going to say how much of it is close to what I've actually written, but it's good though to see people speculating and really getting into the story.**

 **Anyway, there weren't really any reviews to answer, so short A/N, yippee. I'm really happy with this chapter, actually. Enjoy.**

* * *

Aaron screeched to a halt. He had reached a dead-end; buildings surrounded his path in a U-shape. The only way out was back the way he came, where Spyro was closing in on him slowly, a dark, murderous expression on his face. The dead-end in a way resembled a mix of something similar to Trafalgar Square and the end of a cul-de-sac. Only a few of the buildings were burning, and he looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide. However, with Spyro closing in on him slowly, with him and the ape child still clinging onto his back locked into his sight, as soon as Aaron made a bolt for a building, Spyro would immediately put an end to Aaron's run.

Aaron looked frantically behind him and saw Spyro closing the gap between them incredibly slowly, the speed he was stalking forwards at almost excruciating, and extremely terrifying. Aaron slowly stepped back as he did so, careful not to trip over the large well in the middle of the square. Luckily, there was a tall barrier blocking the long fall, but cornering himself among it would worsen his chances of survival. No, not just his. The ape's as well.

Aaron turned around so that he was walking backwards to try and keep the distance between him and Spyro. His brown eyes interlocked with Spyro's violet eyes, and Aaron couldn't pull them away. He continued to step cautiously backwards, as to not provoke an attack from Spyro. Suddenly, he felt his body, and the ape's, press against the well's large stone barrier. The last thing he wanted to feel behind him. He knew trying to slowly swing around would just make everything stop, and Aaron wanted answers. Now.

He slowly brought his shaking hands to his shoulders, carefully and softly lifting the ape child's paws off them, and he carefully helped the child down to the ground. She looked up at Aaron, a pleading look of 'No, please run' in her eyes. Aaron looked down at the child, shaking his head subtly before looking up at Spyro. He opened his mouth, and saw Spyro's muscles twitch at the action. Aaron's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he closed it, swallowed, and tried again.

"What are you trying to gain from all of this, Spyro?" Aaron asked. "Power? Trust? To get rid of an entire race? You tell me. Because all I see is a want to kill and greed for power. And if I know anything from this world, that was how Malefor got his power."

"When I saw you enter Warfang, _ape_ , I didn't know what to think. I thought hard over the first two nights, and instantly figured that you were trying to bring your kind back. For revenge. To keep what you started going again." Spyro explained darkly, pausing to swallow. "That cannot happen. This needs to stop. As much as I don't want to kill… you _are_ apes, after all. It doesn't matter what happens to a sickly race like you. You killed us dragons in _cold blood_!"

Aaron saw the child flinch visibly out of the corner of his eye. He felt the touch of the girl's paws around his knees. He began to shake with uncertainty and fear. He felt tears brimming in his eyes. He wanted to stop the fear, but he couldn't. He _wouldn't_. Apes weren't known for being afraid. So he let the fear show.

But along with that came the anger.

"It's been _two years_ , Spyro! _Anyone_ can change in that time! _You_ changed completely in _four days_! What I know you as from the legend in my world about you; selfless, pure, heroic, courageous; that _isn't_ what I see in you _now_!" Aaron shouted, the veins in his head popping out of his skin as his face went red and tears slipped down his cheeks. "The apes are completely different! If you'd taken the time to see their lifestyle before you attacked, like I did, you'd know! You'd believe me! You'd believe Volteer! You'd believe _Cynder_!"

That last sentence broke Spyro's patience. " _Shut up_! You don't know _anything_! Stop trying to act like you know what's been going on with us dragons, ape! And you've been in hiding for _two years_! _Of course_ you'd know how much you apes have supposedly ' _changed_ ' over that time!" Spyro roared, flecks of spit flying from his jaws.

"I'VE SAID THIS COUNTLESS TIMES, SPYRO! I'M… NOT… AN APE!" Aaron screamed. "HOW CAN YOU NOT EVEN FRICKING BELIEVE CYNDER?! SHE SPEAKS THE TRUTH ABOUT ALL OF THIS!"

"SHE _LIED_ TO ME!" Spyro thundered.

"TO PROTECT US! SHE'S TRYING TO DO SOMETHING GOOD!" Aaron retaliated.

"SHE'S GOING BACK TO HER _OLD WAYS_! SHE'S SIDING WITH _APES_!" Spyro screamed, his voice breaking.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT _FLIPPING SEE_ WHAT'S GOING ON _IN FRONT OF YOU_?!" Aaron shrieked.

Aaron was about to continue when a new voice came into the mix. " _No_! _Ruby_!"

All eyes turned towards the voice. It was Pazakore, Norak's brother. And then the child, Ruby as Pazakore had called her, screamed something that connected a lot of things. "DADDY!" she screeched.

 _She's Pazakore's daughter…? Pazakore's Norak's brother…! She's Norak's niece! If anything happens to either of them, Norak's never going to forgive me!_ Aaron thought, his blood boiling.

The next few seconds went in slow motion for Aaron, Ruby and Pazakore. Aaron grabbed his bow and ripped an arrow out of his quiver. His very last one. He put it to the drawstring, aimed, quite high in fact, pulled back, and fired, sending the arrow flying towards Spyro's head. Aaron didn't bother watching to see if the arrow hit. He grabbed Ruby and dropped his bow and quiver, sprinting towards Pazakore, shouting with fear, his only object of interest being Ruby.

A pained scream ripped through the air. Aaron didn't look back at Spyro, but he knew his arrow had hit in a very painful spot. In fact, the arrow had landed just above Spyro's right eye, sending a river of blood pouring down the dragon's face as his vision went red and blurry, blinking furiously.

Aaron sprinted towards Pazakore, holding Ruby tight in his hands. Aaron spoke, but he couldn't hear what he said, all sound being completely drowned out by his own heartbeat thumping. "Pazakore, we need to run!" Aaron pleaded.

"No. You take Ruby and find a place to hide. I'll be fine. He needs _someone_ to distract him, and I _won't_ let it be you." Pazakore replied.

Aaron stood in his place for several seconds, breathing heavily and heartbeat racing. "GO! GO NOW!" Pazakore shouted, running and grabbing a spear that was left on the ground from a very quick bout between an ape and a dragon, but both of them had left alive.

Aaron turned and sprinted off towards a small stone building that provided plenty of darkness to hide in. He dived through the doorway, scrambling into the corner of the rear wall deep into the darkness of the building. He closed his eyes and hung his head low, gripping onto Ruby tightly, bringing her face up to his chest. He could feel Ruby trembling. _Please, Pazakore. Please be alright._ Aaron thought.

There was a loud shout that came from Pazakore, "If you want to end up trying to find them, you'll have to go through me, you understand?!"

Then came a bark of laughter from Spyro. "I'll be all for it, _ape_!" Spyro snarled.

Aaron blocked out the sounds of the battle from his ears and placed his hands on Ruby's ears so she couldn't hear what was going on. It would have lasted only ten seconds. There was suddenly a roaring shout of agony from the battle, one that signified death. It wasn't Spyro.

Aaron's head lowered as tears fell from his eyes. Vicious stomping was heard as Spyro looked around the buildings in the square for Aaron and Ruby. Aaron squished himself up further against the wall curling up into a ball in the darkness, hoping Spyro wouldn't be able to see him when he began searching through the windows and doorways.

Sure enough, Spyro came to the building that they were hiding in, but he walked away almost instantly, satisfied that there was no one in there. Then Spyro muttered to himself, "Dang it, I can't find them. Well, I think we've done enough for one day."

The sound of flapping wings began as Spyro lifted off the ground and began to shout out orders to return to Warfang. About ten minutes passed, and all the dragons were gone.

All except one.

"Aaron! Aaron!" Cynder cried from the distance. "Are you alright?!"

Aaron knew it was time to come out. He stood up, still holding the trembling child in his hands, and walked out. "That was the most… _terrifying_ thing I've _ever_ been a part of." Aaron muttered, his eyes not leaving Pazakore's pierced body.

Pazakore's paws were clutching his bloodied chest, but there was blood coming out the back of his body. _It was a tailblade kill._ Aaron thought. _Straight through the chest._

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Cynder said, then noticing that Aaron hadn't looked at her at all. "What's wrong?"

Still, Aaron's gaze didn't move from Pazakore. Cynder followed his gaze, and her heart sunk. Aaron suddenly looked at Ruby and covered her eyes. "No, Ruby. Don't look." he muttered softly, before letting tears roll down his cheeks.

"I never thought this would ever happen…" Cynder thought.

"Well it fricking did…" Aaron said tearfully, sniffling.

"Aaron! Aaron! Where are you?!" a voice shouted from the distance.

"Who is it?!" Aaron called back.

"Schagorath!" the voice answered.

Aaron burst into a sprint towards the sound of Schagorath's voice. He gasped at the sight of him. He had a cloth wrapped around his wound from earlier, and it was now dark and wet from the blood. Bloody scratches were on Schagorath's head and arms, and he walked in a limp, indicating that it was hard to walk.

"Are you alright, Aaron?!" Schagorath asked at the sight of Aaron, with bruises and bloody cuts on his body.

"I'm fine." Aaron replied. "Shocked and quite petrified, but fine."

"Wait… is that…?" Schagorath asked, pointing to Ruby. "That's Norak's niece, Ruby. Is Norak alright?"

"I haven't seen him all day." Aaron said, lowering his head. "But Pazakore… he… he's dead."

Schagorath's eyes widened and he stepped back, taking in a shaky breath. "Who? Who killed him?" Schagorath asked.

Aaron sighed, and heard Cynder walk up behind him. She didn't know who had killed Pazakore. If she knew, it would break her heart. But _Schagorath_ needed to know. He was best friends with Norak, Pazakore's brother. In fact, Schagorath and Norak were such good friends that sometimes Schagorath felt as if Pazakore was _also_ his older brother.

Hesitantly, Aaron muttered one word.

"Spyro."

Aaron was exactly right. What he said broke Cynder. She began to stutter wordlessly, before she burst into tears. Schagorath didn't even pay attention to Cynder. He looked behind him as Karrivorn and the three children stepped out from around the corner. Sadness entering his heart, Schagorath turned around and sighed. "These three kids… their mother died of blood loss after a mauling by Spyro…" Schagorath muttered.

Cynder let a frustrated growl burst from her throat as she collapsed, unable to understand what she was hearing. "Why? Why would he do this?" Cynder asked, her voice quivering.

"I know. He told me before he killed Pazakore. He said that for the first two days since Spyro got sight of me, he didn't know what to think, until he put the puzzle together and figured out that the apes were 'coming for revenge on dragonkind', because of Malefor's curse, and to 'continue what they began', referring to the torture and endless fighting during the war. This is all a result of Spyro's fear of that happening." Aaron explained.

"Why can't he see it?!" Cynder screamed, slamming her paw on the ground. "It's so obvious!"

"Fear does things to people. I should know." Aaron said, remembering to the first time he played a horror game, _Slenderman: The Eight Pages_ ; he'd had several nightmares that night.

"Well now what?" Karrivorn asked. "Arriax has been burned to a crisp."

"Hunter's taken most of the apes out to the water caverns you showed me earlier. You'll all probably have to stay in there now that Arriax is gone." Aaron replied.

"But the dragons know we're here. We have to _leave_ this cave entirely." Schagorath said.

"I guess you're right…" Aaron said.

Shaking, Cynder stood up and opened her wings. "I want to talk to Spyro." Cynder said. "I need to tell him that this is wrong."

And with that, the dark purple dragoness left. There was silence for a while. "Well, we'd better head back to Hunter and the apes." Aaron said, turning and starting his walk out of the fiery, smoky city.

* * *

 **Looks like Spyro's kill-streak is now four. He's gonna get some backlash from Cynder, won't he? Two dragon chapters coming up, and we get into the second half of the story where things really start going downhill. Enjoy that, I guess.**


	32. Chapter 31: Anger

**The chapter I finished in my other fanfic was kinda short, but I'm happy with it, so here's another chapter for you all. This one's also kinda short. Most of the chapters coming will as well, as they're mostly fillers (they're normally the shortest chapters).**

 **Anyway, glad to see 'BirmanDragon' reviewing again! He pointed out something really important that wasn't clarified properly in the last chapter. When Aaron shot Spyro in the eye, I just said that he aimed high, and not that he was panicking and his aim was shaky. It was a panic shot, quick and flawed. So thank you for pointing that out. And I'm glad you're enjoying this so far.**

 **Not much else to respond to (most of the stuff I've responded to in PMs, and there isn't any real need to repeat them here), so how about we go into the chapter!**

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"You damned _fool_ , Spyro! Do you know the severities of what could have happened to you and your little 'attack party'?!" Blazrak scolded the young purple dragon, a scowl on both of their faces.

Spyro and the other thirty dragons had returned to Warfang (without Cynder, Terrador and Volteer) and almost immediately he had been called in by the elders for a strong scolding. Spyro scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, they haven't been hurt too badly. I've seen worse." Spyro said, a bored tone evident in his voice. His claws tapped impatiently on the ground.

"Sure, you may have." Statirn said, his voice firm and rasping with anger, however not as much as Blazrak. "But the wounds that some of the dragons sustain are very bad. The amount of blood loss from those axe wounds are quite severe, and could cause significant loss in consciousness. You're lucky none of the dragons fainted on your flight back."

"That proves it's not that bad." Spyro said sternly. "Look, the apes wimped out on us this time. Barely a hundred of them had weapons. There were most likely one to two thousand apes in the city. And those with weapons didn't particularly use them as well as they could have back in the war."

"Still, that was incredibly foolish of you, Spyro. I know you're only eighteen, but that doesn't mean you can go off, make a small 'army' and make a fool of yourself in battle. If an ape had aimed well enough, they could have very well killed one of the dragons in your attack party!" Subzero said angrily. "You need to be more responsible! And I would have _thought_ that someone of your experience, beating Malefor and all, would be a _hell_ of a lot more responsible!"

"I don't really care about what happens to us so long as everyone's alive. The apes are back and they need to be exterminated." Spyro growled.

"You don't _care_?! How can you not…?! YOU HAVE A _DAMNED ARROW WOUND_ ABOVE YOUR DAMN EYE, SPYRO! DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT _THAT_?!" Blazrak roared, his bright red face flushing a darker red as blood filled his cheeks.

"I can get the moles to look at that later." Spyro said. "I could have done that by now had you not called me in for this _blasted_ scolding!"

"Watch your disrespectful tone, young dragon!" Subzero seethed.

"We have more serious matters on our paws than blasted disrespect!" Blazrak roared, silencing everyone. "Terrador went with you, Spyro; I don't know why in the ancestors' names he did, but he did! He didn't return with you! Do you know where he is?"

"Even more concerning is the fact that shortly after Spyro and his attack party left, Cynder and Volteer went missing. I think, knowing their situation, they were trying to stop the fight." Statirn explained. "They haven't returned _either_. Where are _they_?!"

"Do you _seriously_ expect me to know?! I haven't seen Cynder since yesterday, and I saw Volteer for barely ten seconds before I ran off in pursuit of one of the apes!" Spyro scowled.

" _You foolish brat_! I thought you would have _known_ more about warfare and this sort of stuff but _no_! You _lead_ the attack; you _watch out_ for _everybody_ in your damned _group_! Whether you're _also_ in the fight _or not_!" Blazrak shouted, spit flying from his mouth as he burst into a fit of pure rage and frustration at the purple dragon. "I don't care if Cynder and Volteer didn't return with you; they're probably still at the blasted ape city! But _Terrador_ should have returned _with_ you!"

Blazrak was about to keep shouting, when the doors burst open and an adolescent earth dragon, in his late twenties, burst through the doors. "Elders! It's Terrador and Volteer! They're back!" the dragon shouted, breathing heavily.

"Well that's good. We'd better go and see them." Statirn said, a calm smile on his face as he stood up, raising his rear off the ground.

"No, no, _no_! Terrador's _very_ badly wounded! He's got something wedged in his throat and he's bleeding from inside!" the dragon explained frantically.

Despite Spyro being in Terrador's presence when he had gotten the arrow stuck in his throat, Spyro hadn't seen where the arrow landed. His eyes had been fixed on Aaron the whole time. He received an accusing glare from Blazrak, and Subzero spoke up in rage, his bright blue scales going red with fury. "You damn _idiot_! _You're_ the one to blame for this! Like Blazrak said, if you lead the attack, you watch out for _everybody_! _Including_ Terrador!" Subzero scowled. "Now let's go and see how severe this blasted wound is!"

All the elders except for Terrain stayed back in the Warfang Temple, as they followed the adolescent dragon out to meet Terrador and Volteer. Spyro, too, stayed back, a clear mix of disbelief and fury in his facial expression. Spyro's eyes fluttered to the ground as he growled frustratingly.

Terrain spoke in his calm voice, speaking for the first time in the entire scolding. "You know, Spyro? Maybe you should think about what your friend is saying." Terrain suggested.

"Who?" Spyro snapped, his gaze whirling angrily towards the elder.

"Cynder. There could be a chance that maybe she's right. You said that they, in your words, 'wimped out'. That barely ten percent of them carried weapons, and that those who fought weren't going up to their full potential." Terrain explained calmly.

"Nonsense. She can't be right. She's been deceived by those ghastly apes." Spyro scowled, baring his teeth at the old dragon.

"But what if she _is_ right? Maybe they weren't fighting at their full potential because maybe they haven't fought in two years since the end of the war; they haven't _used_ a weapon since then. Since before then, since they were incapable of holding weapons when they were cursed. Maybe they've forgotten _how_ to use a weapon. Maybe they don't _want_ to use a weapon." Terrain clarified.

Spyro's gaze turned slowly away from Terrain, his expressions softening slightly as he thought hard on what the elder had just said. He shook his head and growled. "No!" he spat.

Terrain raised his voice in an angry, raspy snarl, and it was something that he didn't do often, but when he did it was quite a frightening sight. "You tell me this: During your attack, were any of the apes hiding? Scrambling about and looking for shelter? Crying over their dead loved ones? Anything that resembled us dragons back during the war?" Terrain snarled, trying to get his wise words into Spyro's fragile and clustered mind. "I don't know what happened because I wasn't there. But you were, and you saw everything in _sharp detail_."

Spyro didn't answer, his face twisted into a vicious frown as he tried not to bare his teeth at the elder. When no answer came from Spyro, Terrain spoke again, "Maybe Cynder's right. Maybe they aren't proud of what they did, and they want to start anew. Like her. Maybe they want everyone to see that they _want_ to change, and for others to _help_ them change and to _accept_ them into their lives as friends, like what Cynder and Volteer have done to them. Perhaps they aren't so bad, and perhaps you're wrong about them."

"How can I be wrong about those blasted…?!" Spyro started, but was cut off by a yell from Terrain, which happened even less than the elder's bubbling anger.

"You gave Cynder a chance! _You_ gave _Cynder_ a chance! She _led_ those damned ape armies and enforced them to kill and bring fear unto us! Why can't you give the _apes_ a chance when you gave their _leader_ a chance?!" Terrain shouted, continuing again before Spyro could reply. "Cynder's doing what she feels is _right_! She's doing what _you_ did for _her_! You need to back her up on this! Now I'm going to check on Terrador now and leave you to your thoughts, and if you keep going on this path too far and then realise too late that you aren't doing it right, don't come crying to anyone asking for forgiveness! Goodbye, you damn purple fool!"

And with that, the enraged elder stood up, turned and left the Warfang Temple with a huff, leaving Spyro alone.

* * *

"Terrain, where have you been?" Statirn asked.

Terrain groaned, having gained most of his composure from his slight outburst from earlier, but still unhappy about how Spyro hadn't cared about what he had to say. "I tried to give some suggestions to Spyro, but he rudely refused to take it." Terrain said. "I may have gotten a _little_ angry at him."

"Terrain? Angry? _That's_ good to hear!" Blazrak barked, before there was a loud slap as Subzero whacked Blazrak in the back of the head with the flat of his spear-like tailblade.

"Now's not the time." Subzero said, before turning back to look at Volteer. "So will he be okay?"

"We're going to get some moles to take a look at it and see what they can do." Volteer said.

"Mm, yes… they're the only ones that can really fit down there, really." Statirn said.

Terrador brought a shaky paw to his neck, which was covered in a thick plaster brace that kept his neck in place. Terrain felt the need to ask what was wrong with Terrador; he was the only one uninformed, and he and Terrador had been quite close while Terrain was the earth guardian and Terrador was in his teenage years. "So what's wrong with him?" Terrain asked.

"There's an arrow wedged in his throat. The human that threw it was acting out of self-protection, and the protection of a child, and, to me, it also looked like his aim was off." Volteer explained.

"So by 'human', you mean the… _thing_ that everybody says looks like an ape?" Terrain asked uncertainly.

"Precisely." Volteer replied. "Now I'm going to go see the moles before Terrador perishes from blood loss."

Volteer meant it as an exaggeration, but Terrador's eyes widened in fear. It was irrational and completely unnecessary, but Terrador felt fear, for some odd reason. He _knew_ that Volteer was exaggerating. But he couldn't get that word out of his head. _Perishes._

"I'm coming, too." Terrain said, stepping forward. "Terrador and I have been close for a while now, since his fifteenth hatch-day, I think it was. I want to be there for him to make sure he's okay. He may be older now and may not need me to be there, but I can only imagine what pain he's going through."

Terrador smiled, lowering his head slightly by accident, before he suddenly retched, his neck budging and threatening to move from inside the brace, although it was stuck in the same position it had been for a long time now. Terrador tried to swallow the blood he'd thrown up in his mouth, but it agitated the wound in his throat more, and the blood came up again, spraying all over Volteer in spluttering gurgles. Terrador made his best effort to create a whine, but the strained look on his face showed how much pain he was in.

"Alright, I think we need to go now." Terrain said.

"I couldn't come to an agreement any quicker, Terrain." Volteer said with disgust, wiping the thrown-up blood off his chest.

An apologetic look appeared on Terrador's face, before it went to one of excruciating pain. Terrain and Volteer led Terrador off towards the infirmary to get the arrow removed, leaving the remaining three elders near the Warfang gate. They all decided to move off to their living quarters, needing plenty of rest.

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 **It felt good giving Spyro a scolding here. Hope you all enjoyed it.**


	33. Chapter 32: Arrow Removal

**I actually feel bad… this chapter is tiny. And I mean _tiny_. Sorry for all you peeps who are wanting a few longer chapters. There are more coming, but I think most of the next few ones will be short. Hopefully not as short as this tiny piece of crap, though.**

 **Anyway, onto reviews. To 'BirmanDragon', the way I wrote parts of last chapter were kinda crap. You're right in saying that the elders seemed to be unknowing of how battle worked, but I guess it has been about a hundred and fifty years since they themselves were guardians, and they're like… in their five hundreds or something like that. But really, there are two sides to battle. The actual fighting is definitely the main point, but it's important to look out for others around you to make sure there are no casualties. Especially if you're leading the group, because you're kinda responsible. Especially Spyro, who's kinda _ir_ responsible right now. But then again, depending on where you come from and how you see things, people's points of view on different things change, eh? Anyway, glad you're enjoying this (going back to my other fanfic kinda makes this one seem like a hellhole of vomited crap).**

 **And to 'LoNeWoLf', I'm sorry, but I'm not accepting OCs. Maybe you should do some writing about who this 'Subzreo' character is. Jokes on misspellings aside, glad you liked the last chapter. I felt proud of it while writing it, especially since I've seen lots of fanfics make Spyro the hero no matter what he does, even if he makes a terrible mistake. That scolding scene was something I had been looking forward to for _a long_ time. I guess that chapter's one of the ones going in the pool room. (I'm sorry, I watched _The Castle_ a few days ago and I loved it; I highly recommend it, it's a great watch)**

 **Anyway, Terrador's going off to get that flippin' arrow out of there, and I sincerely apologise for this being so damn short.**

* * *

"Hello, Guardians Volteer and Terrador and Elder Terrain! What can I do for you?" the mole at the infirmary asked.

"Isn't it kind of noticeable? Obvious?" Volteer asked impatiently, nodding his head towards Terrador's plaster neck brace. He'd had enough of explaining what was wrong.

Terrain took a much calmer approach to the question. "Terrador here got an arrow wedged in his throat during a… a…" Terrain said, trying to find words that wouldn't worry the moles, as they weren't particularly fond of the apes themselves and, unlike the dragons, couldn't defend themselves from the apes, although that wasn't really necessary. "A hunt! Yes, a hunt!"

"Oh, wow. An arrow in the throat?! I've never heard of that before. Well, let's get you in and see what we can do." the mole said.

The mole led the three dragons into the infirmary and found a mole doctor that was free and didn't have any work to do. "Hey, Doctor Malyon." the mole said.

"Well, hel… whoa! What's wrong with Guardian Terrador?" Malyon asked, looking up at the large neck brace.

"Apparently, he's got an arrow stuck in his throat." the other mole said.

"Well that's new. Meh, let's get him in." Malyon said, walking off into a spare recovery room.

When the dragons rounded the corner, they found Malyon and several other moles in the room; Malyon was fastening some rope tightly around his waist. "We'll have to go in there to take a look at the wound and to get the arrow out. We'll need to take off that brace so you can straighten your neck vertically to make it easier for me to go inside." Doctor Khor explained.

Terrador grit his teeth uncomfortably at having a mole and some rope going down his throat, but knew it had to be done. He sat down as Malyon told Volteer to make a slit down the plaster brace so it could be taken off. Volteer was careful not to cut Terrador's neck or to cause any irritation to the arrow inside his throat. Volteer slipped, but luckily it was at the end of the plaster brace, so Volteer's claw came down along Terrador's shoulder. The guardian winced in pain.

"This may sting a little, but you need to extend your neck vertically and open your mouth so I can get in there easily." Malyon explained, putting a pouch of red gems around his shoulder and giving the other end of the rope to the other moles, before they all climbed up a large stone shelf.

Terrador grimaced, but obliged, extending his neck vertically and opening his jaws, closing his eyes tight, wincing in pain. Before he knew it, he felt the mole being lowered slowly and carefully down his throat. Malyon only _just_ fit down Terrador's gullet, and Terrador heard Malyon whistle from inside his gullet. "That's nasty. It's wedged quite far in." Doctor Khor said, his voice echoing out from inside his gullet.

Terrador's breathing sped up rapidly. He felt Terrain put a comforting paw on his own. The paw of his old friend and mentor calmed him down slightly, but he still wasn't looking forward to the excruciating pain that he was unprepared for. Terrain felt Terrador's paw shaking underneath his, and Terrain felt really bad for Terrador.

Malyon growled from inside Terrador's throat as he tried to pull on the arrow, and pain flared through his throat. Terrador groaned in pain, his shaking paw getting worse. With one final yank, the arrow was pulled free, and pain seized Terrador, and he felt immense amounts of blood stream down his gullet.

A suppressed groan came from Terrador's jaws as he tried hard not to clamp his jaws shut and grit his teeth, pulling back his lips to help. Terrain swore he could see tears forming in the earth guardian's eyes. This would have been the first time in fifty or sixty years that he had seen Terrador shed tears; the seventh time in all the time Terrain had known Terrador, which was for almost Terrador's whole life of two hundred and fifty-seven years. A tear managed to free itself from Terrador's eye, and Terrain wrapped a wing around Terrador's back, whispering a comforting message to the earth guardian.

It wasn't long before Terrador's rapid breathing and racing heart slowed down as he sighed with relief as a calming warmth entered the wound. It was the power of a red health gem. The wound closed and healed, and Terrador's throat felt better than ever. With that, the moles pulled Malyon up out of Terrador's throat, holding the arrow that had been wedged inside his fleshy throat, the arrowhead and a quarter of the shaft was drenched in blood. A few strings of pink flesh had also been ripped out of Terrador's throat and was hanging off the arrowhead. The sight was horrendous, and Terrador felt sick upon seeing what had soared down his throat. Malyon landed back on safe ground, untying the rope around his waist and patting Terrador softly on the paw. "You'll be fine. You've still got a fair bit of blood in your throat, so you'll need to wash it out with plenty of water. Other than that, the wound is gone thanks to a few red gems, and you're free to go." Malyon said, before adding. "Just be thankful you're a dragon and have remedies as easy as a simple red gem. If you weren't, we'd need several painkillers and antiseptics and other medications."

Terrador closed his mouth and looked down at Malyon. He nodded with understanding, and spoke, quite hoarsely, but well enough to be heard. "Thank you." Terrador said.

Terrain and Volteer nodded their thanks as well, before the three dragons turned and left.

* * *

 **See what I mean? _Tiny_! That was absolute crap… If it wasn't an important scene, I would have ditched it all together. I managed to add about 200 words to this chapter during editing (so yeah, this chapter was crap-short when I originally wrote this).**


	34. Chapter 33: All My Fault

**Flippin' hell, why is this so damn short?! I didn't try to make this so short, I swear; it's shorter than the last chapter! I apologise so much. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna break my posting algorithm and post two chapters for you today. You guys kinda deserve it after last chapter, and especially after this disaster of a chapter. Kinda important, though, so again, I have to keep it.**

 **Anyway, gonna respond to reviews now. To 'Fredrik the astral dragon', this fanfic most likely will not have a sequel. I've said this before, but there are many ways this story could continue, but I'm personally not sure it _should_. If this story gets lots of praise, I'll _think_ about writing a sequel. But I think this fanfic will be better as a stand-alone, and I also want to focus more on the other Spyro fanfic I'm writing. That one will be a five-part series, so you'll see a _lot_ of that series coming out soon. Also, I read _Astral Legacy_ , your fanfiction, and I must say, it's pretty good. Not the best fanfic I've read, but it's certainly better than a lot of other stuff I've read (lots of stuff on FFnet is… pretty bullcrap to say the least). I'm gonna stick around, because I think it's kind of interesting.**

 **And to 'LoNeWoLf', if you think a little bit of dragon throat flesh on the end of an arrowhead is gory, well there's a lot more where that came from. _Broken Perceptions_ will get slightly gorier (that flesh thing was a last-minute addition to last chapter), but it will still be nothing compared to the other fanfiction (well, the entire series, really) that I'm writing. Pretty much all the entries will be M-rated for gore, which is saying something. Not romance, which is the main reason for most M-rated fanfictions, but for gore. So yeah, a little bit of dragon throat flesh is really nothing compared to what's in my other fanfiction. *cute anime smile***

 **Well, onto this tiny hellhole of a chapter…**

* * *

"Wait, _two_ of them?!" Aaron exclaimed.

"Yeah. Both of blood loss." Hunter said emotionlessly.

Aaron muttered a curse word and Schagorath spoke up. "He killed two more as well. A mother; died of blood loss." Schagorath said, hesitating.

"And the other one?" Archer asked.

"My friend's brother." Schagorath said. "Murdered in cold blood."

A voice from the crowd of apes piped up. "Wait! Wait, Schagorath?!" Norak called urging his way forward through the many apes walking around to help the wounded. "You don't mean _my_ brother, do you? Because I haven't seen him return."

Then Norak caught sight of Ruby, his niece, on Aaron's back. No one needed to answer him once he saw Ruby. Aaron knelt down and allowed Ruby to get off his back, and she ran to Norak. Norak fell to his knees as he pulled Ruby in an embrace, sobbing openly, and trying to calm Ruby down, even though _he_ was the one crying.

Aaron could not understand why this happened. The dragons were good creatures. If they saw the obvious change in demeanour in the apes, they _should_ have stopped and tried to see what was going on. They didn't. They attacked, and attacked _brutally_. And Spyro killed four apes. Four independent, sentient apes. They could think for themselves now; they weren't influenced by Malefor's dark intentions any more, and yet the dragons still came, and four apes died. Murdered in cold blood.

And Aaron blamed himself.

Everything in the Dragon Realms was perfect before he came. The dragons lived peacefully. The cheetahs lived peacefully. The _apes_ lived peacefully. They were in perfect hiding. Now the apes had to leave the home they had known and loved so much for the past two years.

Aaron turned away from them and walked back out towards Arriax, and sat down on the cold rocky ground underneath him, watching as the ape city burned to the ground. He was silent and alone for about a minute before a voice spoke up. "Hey, are you alright?" Schagorath asked, sitting down next to Aaron.

Aaron mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds, and then replied, "Y-y-yeah. Yeah, I guess so…"

"What's going on?" Schagorath questioned.

Aaron lowered his head and sighed, closing his eyes. He took a moment to compose himself and clear his mind, and then he spoke, lifting up his head and looking at Schagorath, his eyes red and glistening with moisture, tears threatening to leave them. "I feel like… like I'm the cause of this. Like it's all my fault." Aaron explained, his voice breaking and shaky.

Schagorath's expression changed immediately from one of concern to that of confusion, however evident hints of concern were still in his facial expression. "Why?" Schagorath asked. "None of this was your fault. You didn't ask for the dragons to attack us."

"Yeah, but everything was perfect before I came to this world." Aaron spat angrily, swinging his head violently away from Schagorath's direction, looking back out towards Arriax. " _I_ should have been killed. Not _them_! None of the apes deserved that. It should have been _me_ instead of _them_."

"And neither do you!" Schagorath argued. "You _saved_ us! You deserve _every right_ to stay alive!"

"I don't feel like it." Aaron deadpanned, picking up a rock and throwing it in the direction of Arriax with a violent curse.

The fire roared and licked viciously around the buildings, the smoke bellowing up to the roof of the cave and escaping out of the holes the dragons had dug through the ground to access Arriax. For a while, the distant roaring of the inferno was the only sound Aaron and Schagorath could hear, followed by the occasional cough or pained shout from the apes in the cavern behind them.

Schagorath spoke again. "It wasn't your fault. These things happen. I bet the dragons had these sorts of talks after _our_ devastating attacks. Those attacks were _our_ fault. _We_ were the ones that attacked. It's just like that. _They_ were the ones that attacked. Not _you_. You didn't bring them here just to betray us. They just somehow found us. Found you coming down here. It was their choice to attack. You shouldn't blame yourself. I don't. I'm sure the other apes don't."

"The dragons do." Aaron replied gravely, not looking at Schagorath.

Schagorath looked at Aaron sadly, not knowing what else to do. After a minute of silence, Schagorath stood up. "I'm going to go check on the cheetahs and the other apes." he said.

With that, Schagorath left, and Aaron was left alone to his thoughts.

* * *

 **Yeah, I'm gonna be posting another chapter. Probably around the next few minutes since I have to go to bed soon (it's currently 9:30 at night for me so yay). So I guess I'm going straight onto editing the next chapter then. See you then.**


	35. Chapter 34: Something's Wrong

**This one's slightly longer than the last chapter, but still so short… I don't know why these are so short. I'm trying to make these a little longer, but it's quite hard sometimes…**

 **The next few chapters will be longer; they're all mainly minor action sequences. Another major action sequence coming soon in about six chapters, so you don't have to wait too long to get to the good stuff. And the story's almost done as well, so I'm really happy about that! It took just over a year to write _Broken Perceptions_ (with a large three-month break or so in between to start my other fanfic), and it's turned out better than I expected, and people are liking it a lot. Like I mean wow, it's on the fifth flippin' page of the most favourited fanfics in the _Spyro the Dragon_ category. Like… I was just going through the fanfic list of _Spyro the Dragon_ sorted by favourites, and to see my fanfic on Page 5?! I was ecstatic.**

 **Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's the next chapter. You all deserve it for those last two tiny chapters that were absolute crap.**

* * *

"So, what did the elders want to talk to you about?" Cynder asked as Spyro stomped angrily into their apartment.

"What the heck do you think?!" Spyro snapped, his eyes widened dramatically and his lips pursed as though it was obvious.

Cynder was taken aback at Spyro's sudden outburst. She stood, staring at Spyro with disbelief, not being able to comprehend what had just happened. He had never yelled at her like that. Ever! He continued shouting when Cynder didn't give an answer. "Come on, answer me!" he shouted.

"Um… well…" Cynder stammered, before closing her mouth.

To be honest, she _didn't_ know what the elders wanted to talk to Spyro about. He growled with anger and frustration. "You fool! Have you completely forgotten that massive battle in that underground city, you traitor?!" Spyro shouted, raising a claw and striking Cynder in the left foreleg, causing her to lose balance and half fall to the ground.

"What was that for?!" Cynder screamed through gritted teeth, pain flaring through her leg.

"Because you're a traitor and you're a fool! I thought you'd be smarter than that!" Spyro scowled.

"I'm not the one to pry into your personal life, and the only thing I heard was that the elders wanted to speak with you! I. Didn't. Know!" Cynder shouted, articulating her last three words to get the message clear in Spyro's head.

"Great! Now you're angry at me!" Spyro groaned.

"Because you yelled at me _for no reason_!" Cynder shrieked.

"You calm down, young lady! I've just been scolded and shouted at by four _damn_ old coots and I'm not particularly happy about it!" Spyro roared.

"Maybe you need a good shouting at to get things in that tiny head of yours!" Cynder screamed before turning and storming up to her own floor, where she slumped to the ground as thoughts began filling up her head.

 _What is wrong with him? He's not like this normally. I'm beginning to think that this is more than just stress. He's gotten angry at me almost ten times, just within five days! This is crazy!_ Cynder thought, tears brimming in her eyes.

The night was haunting and eerily silent as both Cynder and Spyro stayed up for almost the entire night, unable to fall asleep, their thoughts lingering in their minds and distracting them from their sleep. When Cynder _did_ fall asleep, however, she fell into a deep dream. The beginning was truth. She saw the four apes that had died by Spyro's claws, blood covering their bodies and their eye sockets empty. She saw the massive, bloody wounds across their bodies, and they all screamed for Cynder to take revenge on the one who took their lives. And then, the dream went spiralling out of the truth. The rest of the ape population, bloody and maimed, stepped out of the darkness, surrounding Cynder, with Aaron and the cheetahs among them. A dragon silhouette was among them. The body was black, invisible against the black darkness surrounding them, but the thick red blood spilling down its chest was clear to the eye. Above Cynder, appeared two blinding white eyes that reminded Cynder only of Dark Spyro, whom she had not seen since Ignitus' death. Dark Spyro's shadowy jaws lunged at her, and Cynder woke up with a sharp gasp.

Cynder winced and put a paw to her throat, the cold air she had taken in making her windpipe go cold, her throat hurting from the rasping in her gasp. She swallowed, feeling her throat soothe and settle, the cold pain disappearing slowly. Her thoughts then went to her nightmare, which was confusing. She didn't know of the killings of the three other apes, only that of Pazakore. But the sight of the entire ape population, covered in wounds and their own gore, as well as the cheetahs, and worst of all, Aaron, terrified Cynder. And then there was the dragon. What did it mean? She knew they spoke for revenge on Spyro, but she didn't want to hurt him. Especially with the amount of stress among him. And whatever else it was that Cynder suspected was making him lose his mind.

Her thoughts were moved elsewhere when her name was screamed out from below her. It was Spyro. Quickly, she left her room and ran down the staircase, gasping as she saw the sweat caked over Spyro's scales and heard his whimpering cries. "Cynder, don't leave me!" Spyro whimpered. "Please don't! I… I…!"

Spyro struggled to continue, but Cynder knew what he wanted to say, and she now knew what his greatest fear was. They had been in love for almost a year now, and they had promised, even before Cynder had confirmed her feelings for Spyro in the core of the world, that they would never leave each other in a time of need.

Spyro was frightened that Cynder would leave him to fall victim to the apes and his own stress, frightened that she was reverting back to her old, dark ways, and that she would turn on him and attack him out of the blue. Cynder knew this, and she immediately felt bad for the whimpering, shaking, sweating purple dragon lying on the ground, paws hiding his tear-stricken face.

She knew that Spyro needed her company for the time being, and after a nightmare like _that_ , one about Cynder leaving him, reducing him to tears, it would not have been good for Spyro to be alone when he awoke. She knew she couldn't be next to him, or it would be awkward, for they weren't mates yet, so she walked over to the other side of Spyro's apartment, in the kitchen, and settled down there, where they could see each other when one of them woke up, for Spyro was, once again, sleeping on the couch. Well, that was until he had rolled off it after waking violently from his dream and slamming into the hard ground below him.

Morning came quickly, and Cynder had not slept a wink for the two hours of moonlight that had still remained. Spyro woke calmly, and was half startled, yet half relieved, that Cynder was in the kitchen not too far away from him. He wasn't sure how he felt. He wasn't sure how to react, how Cynder would react, so he acted as if he was very uncomfortable.

"Have you… have you been there all night?" Spyro asked, although he knew the answer.

"Only for the last two hours since you woke from your dreams, screaming my name." Cynder scoffed, a smirk on her face.

Spyro frowned. Then he glared fiercely at Cynder. Cynder returned Spyro's frown and stood up. "Fine, if you don't want me here, I'll leave." Cynder scowled, walking off and leaving their apartment.

Spyro tried to speak up to stop Cynder, but it was too late. Spyro frowned maliciously and stood up, pacing around the room for a few moments before leaving the apartment and leaving to go find something to hunt so he could eat.

* * *

 **Next chapter's gonna be great, guys! That one is one I'm really proud of, so look forward to that one!**


	36. Chapter 35: Mauled

**Finally, a longer chapter for you (the last few were crap). I'm really happy with this one. This is where things take a turn for the worst in this story, so we're getting near the end of this. Just finished writing Chapter 25 of my other fanfiction that I'm _still_ not giving you the name of (the name's kind of a slight spoiler in itself, so I'm not going to give it out too early), and it's quite dark and gory, and I kind of felt bad after writing it. That story's definitely going to be M, especially after what I've just written for it, so be prepared.**

 **Anyway, onto reviews. A guest who's gone by the name of 'Random Reviewer' (love that name by the way) reviewed saying that they were the one who asked about the reptile blood. Don't feel bad about it, there's no such thing as a stupid question (unless it literally is stupid), and I honestly learned a bit about the topic as well, to be honest. I've known that reptiles had red blood for a long time, but after reading your review, the question _"Are there creatures with green blood?"_ began floating about in my head, so I researched it. Anyway, it was a good question, though, so don't feel bad.**

 **And 'LoNeWoLf', the final chapter's quite a while away. There's about 22 chapters left, so yeah. But we're getting there. To be honest, after the final action sequence, there's about 10 chapters of fillers (which are quite short and can't really be merged together but I'm happy with them), which are kind of important and show lots of consequences to everything that happens in this story. The final action sequence goes for about six chapters as well, and they're quite long, too, so those ones are something to look forward to. About seven chapters away from that one starting.**

 **Well, onto the chapter. I'm going to write the next chapter of my other fanfiction and continue with the dark, gory, emotional scenes, so yeah. *fake smile***

* * *

Aaron had decided to take a little walk in the forest that morning to get is mind off things. The sound of birds calling was like music to his ears, having not heard it for so long (even though it was only a few hours). It wasn't long before he saw a rabbit leap out into the open. Then, realising he was hungry, Aaron decided he could try and catch some food for everyone before they left the cave to go their own ways. The apes would leave the forest and go out further, trying to find a new home where they could be sure no one would find them. The cheetahs, as well as Aaron, would return to the Cheetah Village.

Aaron grabbed his bow slowly, and pulled an arrow out of his quiver, for he still carried his bow and quiver, and he'd managed to find some arrows lying around the smoky, dusty city that was Arriax. Pulling the drawstring back, Aaron watched intently on the rabbit, and released when he was ready, sending the arrow slamming into the rabbit, killing it instantly.

He walked over to the rabbit and picked it up, plucking the arrow out and slinging the rabbit over his shoulder. He then bent down and wiped the bloodied arrow in the grass, cleaning it as best as he could and putting it back in his quiver. He was running out of arrows, he only had six, so he had to use them as efficiently as possible and then go and restock at the Cheetah Village. He was lucky to find some arrows lying around Arriax, for he had run out during the siege on Arriax.

Aaron walked around for another thirty minutes, unsuccessful in finding anything else for food. It was another ten minutes before Aaron came across a patch of grass smudged in a small puddle of blood. Small tufts of white fur were in the bloodied grass as well, the same coloured fur as the dead rabbit Aaron had slung over his shoulder. _Strange._ Aaron thought. _I must be going around in circles._

But he hadn't. The layout of the trees was different. And there was a large rock off to the side. Aaron pulled a face before deciding that he had been out for too long, turning around and heading back. He groaned as he realised it was going to be another forty or so minutes, possibly more if he got lost, to get back to Arriax. They hadn't left yet. Hunter said they wouldn't leave until Aaron got back.

But then suddenly there was a snap. Aaron froze. Something was here. Aaron's heart raced and a bead of sweat began to trickle down his forehead. The last time this had happened, he had been attacked by an adolescent electric dragon. He hoped it was only a rabbit or a cheetah.

Aaron stayed still for a few minutes, before deciding it would be safe to move. He took a few steps, until there was a thump and a sharp exhaling sound, which came out with a large _whoomph_. Aaron stopped again. _Alright, it's something big. Hopefully, it's either Cynder or Volteer, or not a dragon at all._ Aaron thought, grimacing.

Aaron looked around, his heart beating against his chest and sweat caking his face. He saw something through the trees. Purple. _Purple scales._ Aaron thought, before taking three cautious steps backwards.

He paused for a second before whirling around and bursting into a sprint, letting the rabbit fall from his shoulder with a loud thud. There was a sudden snapping sound as a purple dragon burst through the trees with a fury unmatched by anything Aaron had ever seen before.

Aaron screamed a strong curse, and he screamed it long and loud.

Aaron leapt into a dive as a large ice shard zoomed over his head, slamming into a tree with a loud _thunk_. Aaron scrambled to his feet, only to leap out of the way again, missing colliding with Spyro's claws by a few centimetres. Aaron scrambled out of the mud once again and sprinted off, breathing heavily. His face contorted into an ugly snarl, Spyro whipped his head around and glared savagely at the human, before changing direction and charging towards Aaron.

Aaron suddenly felt the ground shaking from underneath him. He shook his head, realising what it meant, but he wasn't ready for the savage impact as the ground shot up from underneath him in large stone pillars, knocking his feet out from under him as he landed face-first into the stone pillar, cutting his forehead open as blood began to trickle from it. He looked behind him and saw Spyro getting closer, and he grabbed an arrow instinctively, ready to put it to the drawstring and shoot, only to find that he didn't have his bow; he must have dropped it somewhere. Thinking on the spot, Aaron held the arrow like a spear and threw it, without aiming. The arrow soared wildly through the air, slamming into Spyro's muzzle in between his left nostril and his upper lip. While Spyro was distracted by the pain, Aaron leapt down from the colossal stone pillar, landing shakily on the ground, and sprinting off in another direction, sending Spyro skidding to a stop as he tried to turn, only to slam into his own stone pillars.

Dust flew everywhere, racing out in front of Aaron and obscuring his vision. He coughed wildly for a moment, until the dust cleared and he let out a shout, changing course in the nick of time, just as he was about to slam into a massive tree trunk. Aaron knew he needed to get away, and he needed to distract Spyro. He figured the best way was to confuse the purple dragon, so he decided he would attempt just that. But he didn't have any ideas of how he was going to do it.

Aaron found a large tree and began to climb up it, slipping twice and sending large amounts of bark falling to the ground. Aaron found a short, but wide enough branch for him to stand on, and Spyro slowed down to a stop. He and Aaron were looking at each other eye to eye, and it was rather unnerving for Aaron. Spyro's violet eyes were filled with fury for the human. Those eyes wanted him dead immediately. An idea sparked into Aaron's head, but he couldn't execute it, as Spyro's jaws suddenly came shooting towards him.

Quick as a flash, he grabbed a thin, long stick hanging off the thick, stubby branch he was standing on, and thrusted it forward into Spyro's mouth, trying to keep those fangs away from him. The end of the stick had an odd turn in it, and it had gone to the back of Spyro's throat and turned around and looped behind his tongue, wedging into the flesh and getting stuck there. Spyro tried moving forward, but that didn't work, and when he tried moving backwards, the stick began to rub uncomfortably against the flesh in his throat, splinters beginning to come off it. Spyro groaned and then tried to lunge forward, trying to snap the somehow sturdy stick, knowing that going forward would be the most comfortable way of trying to get rid of the stick, and he could crush Aaron in his jaws, getting rid of him for good. All Aaron saw was two pairs of great big jaws looming in front of him, almost beckoning him to come closer so they could crush him. All he could smell was disgusting dragon breath as Spyro breathed heavily and uncomfortably with the stick wedged in his throat.

Aaron began to push sideways on the sturdy stick, wedging the stick's end even more uncomfortably in the back of Spyro's throat. He knew this, because of the strained gurgles that came from Spyro. It wasn't long before the stick snapped under the pressure of the two powerful exertions of energy on it. Spyro's face slammed into the trunk of the tree, and he got a mouthful of bark. Aaron, luckily, had toppled over sideways as he wrenched the stick sideways, slamming face-first into the ground, opening more wounds that streamed blood.

Aaron quickly recovered and began to run off to who knows where. He didn't care which way he was going anymore. He figured he could try and make some ground while Spyro recovered. He didn't look back at the purple dragon, who had recovered slowly from his impact with the tree, and was now trying to dislodge the stick. It didn't take him long to until he remembered about his elements, destroying the stick with a small burst of flame and shouting angrily to himself that he'd completely forgotten about the things that make him a dragon, his elements.

Spyro turned and gave chase once again, closing the gap between him and Aaron quickly. The sprinting human let out a short scream as Spyro released a beam of electricity from his jaws. Aaron fell to the ground, writhing in pain and rolling about, shouting in agony as the electricity prevented him from moving. Spyro slowed to a walk, and stopped in front of Aaron, who was lying on his back, a look of pure terror evident on his face.

Aaron shuddered as Spyro loomed over him, a grim, but furious expression on his face. Then, Spyro spoke. "The suffering you've caused is over. I will kill you, and I won't feel bad about it one bit!" Spyro snarled, baring his teeth and rearing.

Aaron realised that he would be crushed by Spyro's jaws. Thinking quickly, as the paralysing effect of the electricity began to wear off, he rolled to the side and put his left arm up, just in the nick of time as Spyro's jaws came plummeting down towards him.

There was a sickening snap as pain flared through Aaron's left arm, and he howled in excruciating agony. Luckily for Aaron, Spyro's jaws hadn't gone far enough to get his torso, neck or head, wherever the dragon was aiming. Aaron knew that he would have been dead had it not been for his left arm. Aaron looked at his arm, tears stinging his eyes and seeing the thick blood that coated his arm and Spyro's lips. There was a crunching sound, and Aaron screamed once again. He felt the pain increasing in his arm, and he didn't dare look. The crunching sound ripped through the air again, the pain increasing even more, and a howl of agony tore from Aaron's mouth as he threw his head back, sweating and bleeding profusely, tears pouring uncontrollably out of his eyes as sobs began to ripple through his body. Aaron could hear Spyro's heavy breathing, and could feel the warm air hitting his body. Hitting his gory, misshapen arm. He howled in agony again, although it was more of a gurgling sound as his stomach churned as he looked at the massive bloody wound on his arm, with bloodied skin, flesh, muscle and bone visible, as clear as clear could be, even through his hazy, teary eyes. Aaron just wanted the pain to be over. He suddenly wished that he hadn't put his arm up, that Spyro's jaws would have come down further and crushed his body, his heart getting pierced and crushed, and his lungs destroyed. But that was not the case. The pain came from his arm, and he was very much alive to feel it. Blood loss was a long and agonising way to go, and Aaron knew he would die this way, as no one else was in the vicinity to help clot the blood and take care of him.

What happened next contradicted that thought.

Suddenly there was a swooshing sound, and Spyro's jaws left Aaron's arm as the purple dragon reared his head, shouting in pain. Aaron couldn't see what was happening, his vision failing him as he began to lose consciousness. There was a shout. It didn't sound like Spyro's voice, so there was something else in the area. The next few moments were hazy, but to Aaron, it seemed like the thing had sent Spyro away. Aaron felt something furry touch his right shoulder, but it wasn't long before he lost consciousness. The last sound he heard was clearer than anything else he had heard in the last few seconds.

"You'll be alright. You're going to be fine."

* * *

 **Well, Aaron's in a large spot of bother here. I wrote this chapter just before starting my other fanfiction which is quite gory, so the writing quality and gore content will go up a bit after this and come the action sequence, but the gore content will definitely stay low enough to keep this fanfic rated T, as compared to the other fanfic where I let everything go wild. I hope some of you will stick around for that one; I might be revealing the name of it come the Epilogue so you can all start guessing.**


	37. Chapter 36: Foxes

**Eh, short chapter again. Not as short as the last few, but still short (why do I do this to myself?). I've probably butchered this chapter a fair bit, but I think it's still pretty good.**

 **And I've been doing quite a fair bit of reading on FFnet recently, as well as recording and editing videos for YouTube, and I just got into reading _Dark Legacy_ by Dardarax (I binged it in three days), and I flippin' love it. Highly recommend it.**

 **Onto reviews. In response to 'LoNeWoLf', I guess a shark's bite force _would_ be pretty weak compared to a dragon's. Like… a dragon would be tons bigger than a shark. Sure, Spyro's still kinda small, only eighteen, but he's still whopping massive compared to a shark.**

 **In response to 'Derick Lindsey', it was a bit stupid of Aaron to go out into the wilderness just walking. I didn't really have much else of a reason to get Aaron out of Arriax (the bite scene had been planned from the start), so yeah… pretty weak.**

 **Anyway, onto the story. Back with Aaron, and let's see who that voice at the end of last chapter belonged to. (finished writing very emotional scene in my other fanfic… I feel really bad now)**

* * *

Aaron groaned as he woke up. It took a while for him to regain his senses, but once he did, he knew that he had lost all feeling in his left arm. He didn't know if it had been numbed or if it had been amputated. He looked down and saw his arm in a sling, with a bloodied bandage around his arm. The thick red liquid covered most of the length of the bandage, as Aaron's entire arm had been crunched by Spyro's massive jaws. His head hurt; his head _spun_. He knew he'd lost consciousness, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the electricity Spyro attacked him with or whether it was because of the loss of blood. He was happy that he couldn't see the maimed, gory state of his arm. Spyro's jaws had covered most of his view of the wound earlier, but he had still been able to see the horrific sight of his mauled, bloody arm.

Then Aaron took a while to notice his surroundings. He was underground, in a room that was made of dirt and mud, with the occasional plant root sticking out of the walls. He was lying on a wooden bed with cushions and blankets covering him and the bed frame. He was propped up into a slightly comfortable sitting position. A few wooden tables were in the room, with a few objects lying on them. Books, plants, his quiver. Even his bow; it must have been found by whoever brought him here.

Then there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Then footsteps. A bipedal canine came around the corner. A fox, Aaron realised, raising an eyebrow. The underground setting made sense now. Aaron realised that there were more than just dragons, moles and cheetahs in the Dragon Realms, and smirked slightly, before returning to a neutral expression quickly. The fox was a deep red colour, and was tall, about two metres tall, Aaron figured. His eyes were yellow and his build sturdy and strong. He wore a brown leather tunic, with a black belt wrapped around his waist.

The fox spoke, his voice deep, soft and soothing. "Hey, you're awake. Are you alright?"

"I… I think so. What happened?" Aaron groaned. "Like… after I was bitten."

"I saved you from having that arm of yours ripped off, that's what happened!" the fox replied loudly, a bit harsher than he'd hoped his words would come out.

"How? I was sure that Spyro would have bitten my arm off." Aaron said. "How'd you get rid of him so quickly?"

"Well, originally I was just out for a little hunt, and then I heard you screaming, and saw that dragon biting you. I grabbed my sword, slashed it across the back of the leg and it turned and tried to attack me. In its crazy flustered attack, it exposed the wound and I put a paralysing potion in it; I had a few vials with me because we don't like to kill our food while they can still feel the sword. Then it walked off, stumbling and sluggish, by the effects of the potion." the fox said, chuckling. "The dragon was quite smart to leave with its vision blurring up from the paralysis potion."

Aaron listened with intent. He couldn't miss the pronoun use for Spyro. The fox talked about Spyro as an 'it' rather than a 'he'. Aaron was curious. "I noticed you only mentioned Spyro as an 'it'. Why is that?" he asked.

The fox scoffed, shrugging. "Us foxes aren't normally out and about it the outside world. We haven't had much to do with dragons; we've never really known them too well, unlike many other sentient species in the Dragon Realms, who have been involved with the dragons in some sort of way, most of them in quite violent ways." the fox explained.

"So… what species _do_ you normally interact with?" Aaron asked.

"Well, we used to be quite close to the apes back in the ancient times long ago. Before they… you know. The Purple Beast is really the only dragon we've ever come into contact with throughout our species' entire history." the fox explained. "Smart creatures, the apes were. Before we met them, the foxes only hunted with claws and teeth, but now we use swords, thanks to the apes. To be honest, they invented them, despite what all the other sentient species think.

"Then there were the coyotes, relatives to ours, who were quite similar to us, although they preferred to hunt how we normally do, but they became extinct quickly after the Purple Beast came around. So did the hyenas, but they were sadistic psychopaths, so no one really cared about them. They actually tried to join the Purple Beast, but the apes killed them off so they wouldn't have competition. The hyenas would have made great warriors and assassins; that's what worried them.

"The wolves are still around, although we lost contact with them hundreds of years ago. We don't know if those elegant creatures are still around, or how they like to do things, but it doesn't really matter. Don't ask me anything about them though, we've lost all knowledge about them, really."

Aaron took a while to take in all the information. He smiled as he realised the apes were originally good creatures, later corrupted by Malefor and overcome by greed. He smirked as the nickname 'Purple Beast' was used instead of 'Dark Master'. Obviously, the foxes didn't have much interest or knowledge about magic or dragons.

It took a while for Aaron to realise the fox was frowning. "What? What's wrong?" Aaron asked, confused.

"I rambled on again, didn't I? Gosh, I need to learn to stop talking." the fox groaned, turning away and putting his paw to his forehead, rubbing it firmly.

Aaron smirked. _At least_ he _admits that he rambles. Unlike Volteer._ Aaron thought.

There was silence for a while. It was quite unnerving, as human and fox stared at each other awkwardly. It was then that Aaron realised he didn't know the fox's name. So he asked the fox for his name. "Lohfur. The name's Lohfur." the fox answered. "What's yours?"

"Aaron." he replied.

Lohfur chuckled. "That's an odd name for one living inside the Dragon Realms." he said.

"Well I don't come from this world originally. I'm a human, and I come from a place called Earth." Aaron explained.

"Explains quite a fair bit." Lohfur said, shrugging and scrunching up his face.

Lohfur then turned to Aaron's quiver, with four arrows sprawled out of it. "These yours?" Lohfur questioned.

Aaron nodded. "Where'd you get them from? I _would_ assume they're yours from this 'Earth' you speak of, but the design of the bow, quiver and arrows look _slightly_ familiar." Lohfur inquired.

"When I came here, Hunter found me and tested me to see if I was an ape or not. He was surprised by my skills with the bow and arrow and decided to take me in as his apprentice." Aaron explained.

Almost instantly, Lohfur's sword came rushing out of its scabbard with a loud metallic _zing_. Aaron froze, his breath going hard. "I _knew_ they were familiar! You're with _them_! I should have left you there with the purple dragon!" Lohfur scowled.

"Wait, what?!" Aaron cried. "What's wrong with the cheetahs?"

"They're assassins! They can't be trusted, those _fiends_!" Lohfur spat. "They started the five-hundred-year-long war between us, and they won only because us foxes surrendered and went into exile!"

"Wait a moment. War? With the cheetahs?" Aaron asked. "How long ago was this?"

"It ended about twenty-five years ago. Why?" Lohfur said, shrugging, his posture loosening slightly but his grasp still firm around his sword.

"Because the war with Malefor happened. Chances are, that might have changed them. They were caught up in a war that they had no control over, unlike this huge war that you just mentioned, as the war was dominated by dragons, and they were trapped in the middle of the gunfire." Aaron explained.

"Gunfire? What's that?" Lohfur questioned. Lohfur hadn't mentioned any mingling with moles, so probably didn't know about the cannons they used, and they definitely didn't know about proper guns.

"It's… it's just an expression." Aaron groaned, before continuing. "Anyway, either it may have been only Hunter and a few more cheetahs, or they _have_ actually changed. Give them a second chance. Ask them about it."

Lohfur lowered his sword and scratched his head. "I don't really know." Lohfur murmured.

"Give it a go. Seriously. I've spent quite a fair bit of time, recently." Aaron said, standing up with a shaky start. "Now I should probably be heading back."

"No, Aaron. You're wounded really badly, you need to rest." Lohfur said, dropping his sword and running towards the human, trying to guide him back down on the bed. "Trust me, I'm a skilled healer, like most foxes. Well, like most _canines_ , actually. I'm actually the leader of the fox tribe, and I'm the most skilled with healing practises. Trust me."

"Fine." Aaron groaned. "But I'm leaving tomorrow, whether you like it or not."

Lohfur snorted, turning and leaving the room. "I'll come and check on you later. Might bring some food. I don't really know." Lohfur said.

"Not like I really care." Aaron said, shrugging his right shoulder. "I'm tired. I'll probably just go to sleep anyway."

And so he did.


	38. Chapter 37: Bloodthirst

**That was quick. Another chapter done of my other fanfic, so another one of _Broken Perceptions_ to be uploaded.**

 **Not many reviews to respond to, but in response to 'Fredrik the astral dragon', I wanted to include an animal species that isn't used very often, or even at all, in _Spyro_ fanfictions. Normally, it's other mythical creatures, like gryphons, trolls, imps, and stuff like that, so doing a more realistic creature that fits in with cheetahs and the quite commonly used panthers in fanfiction, seemed interesting and different to me. I haven't seen canines used that often before, so I kinda abused the canine thing when I went through some of the backstory that Lohfur went through, including not only foxes, but wolves and coyotes as well. And I decided to throw hyenas in there because why not?**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter. Return to see how Cynder and stuff will react upon Spyro's return to Warfang.**

* * *

"Spyro! What happened?!" Cyril cried as Spyro walked through the gates of Warfang with a slight limp.

"What do you mean, 'What happened?'" Spyro snapped.

"You've got blood all around your jaws, and your rear left leg is lying limp behind you." Cyril scowled, getting impatient. "I'll repeat it one more time, what happened?!"

"I found the ape and attacked it. I almost bit its arm off, but then a stupid fox came up and paralysed my leg, and then ran off with the ape." Spyro replied darkly.

"Wait, you found Aaron?" Cynder cried, catching Spyro's reply and walking up towards the two dragons, fear gripping her chest.

"That doesn't matter!" Cyril retorted, not noticing her use of Aaron's name. "The biggest thing is he found a _fox_! They haven't been seen in over _twenty years_!"

"Why is that?" Spyro asked, suddenly seeming much calmer.

"Well, the cheetahs and foxes were in a huge war that lasted for about five hundred years, and ended about twenty-five years ago when the foxes surrendered and went into exile." Cyril explained. "But you've found a fox, so they're obviously still around."

"Yeah, but I still found the ape. I was _so_ close to getting rid of it!" Spyro growled, flecks of blood and spittle flying from his mouth. "If anything, I should have been able to rip its arm off, but the fox decided to get in the way!"

"What is this nonsense?!" Cynder exclaimed. "Ripping arms off?! Getting rid of other people?! Of sentient beings?! This isn't _you_ , Spyro!"

"Of _course_ it's me!" Spyro retorted with a savage snarl. "I'm just a little _angry_ , that's all!"

Cynder leapt back. She wasn't sure if what she saw was real, but by the shocked look on Cyril's face, it probably was. "What? What's wrong?" Spyro asked.

"You went black for a moment, and your voice got deeper." Cyril stammered. "What happened?!"

Spyro's eyes widened, and he let out a small whimper. "What in the ancestors' names have I done for _him_ to take over?" he cried softly, his eyes gleaming with fear. He rounded on Cynder. "Tell me, Cynder! _Tell me_!"

Spyro was the one to leap backwards this time. It had happened again, and Spyro had probably heard his voice deepen this time. He muttered to himself, shaking his head as tears began to form in his eyes. "Spyro, it's alright. He feeds off your fear and anger. Don't give into it!" Cynder ordered.

"Who are you talking about?!" Cyril shouted.

"I'll explain later!" Cynder retorted.

"I can't. I-I-I physically c-can't!" Spyro whimpered, his eyes beginning to glow faintly. "I… I don't feel as if I c-c-can with the stupid ape s-s-still around! The ape is ruining my protective walls against! The ape is ruining _everything_! I must kill it! It must _DIE_!"

At Spyro's final word, his voice dropped into deep, demonic tones and his body was enveloped in dark energy, blinding white light shining from his eyes and his scales turning from bright purple to a dark indigo, almost black colour. Cynder let out a shout as she stepped even further backwards, and Cyril visibly tensed, his muscles stiffening. Almost immediately, Spyro let out a hoarse gasp and he returned to normal, the glow disappearing from his eyes and scales reverting to their normal purple colour. Spyro breathed heavily, wings spread out in a threatening stance. He looked up to Cynder, with tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry." he murmured, before sprinting away, sobbing uncontrollably.

"What's gotten into him?" Cyril breathed, his voice quaking with fear unlike anything Cyril had ever let show to the world.

"It wasn't just stress that's gotten a hold of him. It's that bloodthirsty fiend inside him!" Cynder whispered. "I should have seen the signs, the symptoms! He couldn't have just done a complete one-eighty all by himself! I can't believe I was so blind!"

"What is going on?!" Cyril ordered.

"I'll explain later! I need a break." Cynder breathed. "I need a breather."

And with that, Cynder flew up into the air, tears pricking her eyes. _I can't believe I didn't realise it was Dark Spyro. And we've let him control Spyro for far too long. He's got a hold on Spyro, and I'm not sure how to cure him of it._ Cynder thought. _I need to tell Aaron and Hunter._

Cynder flew to the Cheetah Village, hoping that Aaron, Hunter and the other cheetahs had returned there. After asking some of the cheetahs around the Village with no prevail, she thought that they might not have left Arriax yet. So, she flew there.

As she landed, she caught sight of the cheetahs exiting the hole that led down to Arriax, worried looks on their faces. "What's wrong?" Cynder asked.

"Aaron. He's gone missing. He left to go on a little walk, and he hasn't gotten back yet." Hunter said.

Cynder's heart sank as she put together some of the pieces. _Spyro said he had found Aaron and almost bitten his arm off. Dang it… Hunter's not going to like hearing this._ Cynder thought, her heart racing.

"Do you know where he is?" Hunter asked.

"I think so. I-I-I think I know what may have happened to him. But you may not l-like it." Cynder stammered.

"Tell me! Tell me now!" Hunter pleaded.

"Spyro returned to Warfang with blood all over his mouth just earlier. He said that he had found Aaron and… and he attacked him. I think he said he bit his arm. Almost ripped it off." Cynder recalled, and the cheetahs' faces fell when Cynder said this. "I don't know where he is, but Spyro mentioned a fox coming to Aaron's rescue, or something like that."

"Foxes? They're still around?" Ulfitz asked.

"They went into exile, remember?" Horilith retorted, punching the blue cheetah in the arm. "You remember all the stories."

"Yeah. All the stories on how well everyone fought, including Hunter, who was fifteen when he joined the war about five years before it ended." Ulfitz replied.

"Enough. I don't need any praise right now." Hunter growled. "We need to try and find these foxes, but we want to be very, very cautious. They might not take us being around them too well, but we have changed a lot since that war ended."

"So what, we go and find the foxes?" Cynder asked.

"Probably. I want to see if Aaron's safe." Hunter said. "They were very advanced healers, and if Spyro said he found a fox, that fox has probably taken Aaron to heal him up. We'd better get going, then. I'm not sure how long it'll take to find the foxes, but I want to find Aaron as quick as possible. The way you said that Spyro mentioned 'almost ripping his arm off', the wound sounds quite severe."

"Yes, but before we go, I think I know why Spyro's so aggressive nowadays." Cynder said.

"Explain." Hunter said.

"I don't think it's stress or fear. They could be contributing, but those aren't the main reasons. Dark Spyro's taken control of him." Cynder explained.

"Dark Spyro? Who and when…?" Hunter asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Right, you don't know either." Cynder muttered to herself, before explaining what had happened at the Well of Souls and the Belt of Fire, receiving shocked glances from the cheetahs.

"Well, we'd better figure out something to stop this, or just try and avoid Spyro all together." Hunter said, scratching his head. "But first, I want to find Aaron. I also want to talk to the foxes. So let's go before we run out of sunlight."

* * *

 **So they'll all find the foxes next chapter, which will be a slightly longer one, before a few more chapters and then the final major action sequence, which I think you will all love. Anyway, that's enough from me. I'll see you soon. (And I apologise for the shorter chapters recently… I'm not as good as the authors that can write 6000-10 000 words per chapter, so sorry.)**


	39. Chapter 38: Healed

**Finally, a nice long chapter again! Sorry it's been a while since one of these. The past few chapters were fillers, and pretty short, boring ones at that, too. And we get to see how Cynder and the cheetahs do at finding Aaron in this chapter, and I think I did this chapter really well.**

 **Anyway, it's also my birthday tomorrow! So happy birthday to me, I guess. And school's also finishing this week. Unfortunately, during the first week of this holidays, I'm not going to be able to work too much on fanfiction, so you won't see an update for a whole week, probably more. And holidays are the time where I can focus on YouTube and lots of other hobbies I have (writing fanfictions aren't as time consuming as making a YouTube video, so I can do that during a school term), so updates may also be slightly slower.**

 **Also, _Broken Perceptions_ has hit 100K words now, so we're almost finished, and it's just gotten 100 reviews! I wasn't expecting _Broken Perceptions_ to be this popular, with just over 18K views, 37 favourites and 50 followers. So thank you all so much.**

 **Well, big rant over, onto reviews. A few people were surprised at the Dark Spyro revelation last chapter (kinda surprised at that, but meh), and to be honest, that was a twist I had thought of about a week before I originally wrote the last chapter.**

 **In response to 'LoNeWoLf', I agree. Lots of fanfictions focus mostly on the dragons and their history. I thought it was interesting to include a new species, and I wanted them to have had a war with the cheetahs, so I made them canine, to do with the whole dog-chase-cat thing (that was bad explaining but I think you understand what I mean). A bit more of their war history and culture is kind of explained in this chapter, too, and I really like what I did with it.**

 **To the guest 'UNNES1000', it would be pretty interesting if Dark Spyro was a conduit to allow Malefor to return, but to be honest, Malefor returning through some sort of conduit is also an overused plotline, so I wanted to avoid that, as with most of the other overused plot ideas that I've avoided. So no, that won't be happening, but something interesting will happen quite soon; I took a while writing Chapter 41 because I stepped a _little_ out of my comfort zone, and I think it pulled off. Some more chapters down the track have a few good twists as well, so look forward to that.**

 **Anyway, with that all over, I guess we'll head onto the chapter now.**

* * *

"Look! Blood!" Cynder cried.

"It must be Aaron's." Horilith said.

"You don't know that. It could be the blood of some prey or some other creature that's been in a fight." Ulfitz retorted.

"Ulfitz is right, Horilith. You can't just assume. But you are right. There's dragon footprints here. Slight fox footprints too; I did enough tracking during the cheetah-fox war that I know exactly what they look like, even after twenty-five years." Hunter said, pointing towards a set of footprints. "They were here. And the fox footprints are quite deep. They lead off down that way."

Cynder looked towards where Hunter was pointing, and saw the fox footprints leaving a trail in the dirt, and trampled long grass. She also noticed something else. "There's a blood trail. If the wound was that severe to have been 'almost ripped off', then there would have been a lot of blood. It's spilled all over the place." Cynder said.

"Well, let's go, then." Hunter said. "We've been walking for most of the day. We don't want to lose daylight."

They walked off in the direction of the footprints, and after about five minutes, they came across a hole in the ground. Kind of like a den. The footprints went into it. "Careful." Hunter said. "I'll go alone."

"Should you leave your weapons behind? It might be smart to do so the foxes don't see you as a threat." Cynder suggested. "You said you guys had fought a war and they had gone into exile; they may not trust you, especially if you come armed."

Hunter paused and nodded after a moment of thought, taking off his quiver and placing it and his bow down on the ground. He reached into his tunic and pulled out a small dagger and placed it with his bow and quiver. "Alright, wish me luck." he said as he turned towards the hole.

Hunter walked carefully into the dirt hole, and felt his heart rise into his chest. This was probably a really stupid thing to do, knowing how much the foxes hated his kind, but he wanted to make sure Aaron was safe. "Hello? Hello?" he called. "I come unarmed."

He continued to take slow, cautious steps for about ten more seconds until he was tackled to the ground, the creature's fangs bared, only centimetres away from Hunter's face. A fierce growl emanated from the fox's throat, and Hunter suddenly noticed the sword blade pointed at his neck. Hunter struggled from underneath the dark orange fox, but he was held down tight. "Intruder!" the fox howled down the dirt tunnels, and two more armed foxes came down the tunnel after a few moments.

The foxes stood next to him and the fox on top of him, but they both unsheathed their swords and pointed the blades towards his throat, like the first blade. "Come on, really? I come unarmed, in peace." Hunter pleaded.

"How do we know that it's not a trap? There could be an ambush out there?" one of the foxes scowled.

"Do you _really_ still think we're like that?" Hunter asked. "We've changed!"

"I'm not so sure about that, murderer!" another fox spat at him. "You killed my brother!"

"I was fighting in a war! Plus, that was _twenty-five_ years ago!" Hunter retorted.

"My brother's death was twenty- _seven_ , actually." the fox interrupted.

"Whatever!" Hunter shouted. "The point of the matter is, we've changed! And if you don't believe that, look at me! I've come in here unarmed, and I just want to talk!"

"I don't think so! We're taking you to see Lohfur, and he'll figure out what to do with you later." the fox on top of him said, and pain exploded in his head as the fox brought his fist down on his head, and Hunter's vision went black.

* * *

Hunter woke up slowly, his vision blurry as he readjusted to his environment. His ears rung painfully, and he tried to stand up, but realised he was tied to a chair with rope, tied excruciatingly tight, and Hunter was worried he would lose blood flow in his arms with how tight the rope was. Using all of his strength, he tried to stand up, bringing the chair with him as he hauled it up with his back, but as he did so, he fell back down onto his rear end, the chair heavy, his stomach twisting uncomfortably from trying to stand too quickly after waking up from unconsciousness. He retched twice, and spat phlegm onto the floor next to him, before his senses returned to normal and his sickened state faded.

The cheetah looked around him and saw a large red fox standing in front of him, his back turned towards him, a light brown leather tunic, practically sleeveless, dressed around his torso, revealing the bulging muscles in the fox's arms. What gave the fox's identity away was the large scar on the back of his neck, a scar that Hunter himself had given the fox. The fox also wore white tattoo of a fox head with a halo around its head on his shoulder, the fox tradition and marker of leadership. "Lohfur? Is that you?" Hunter asked with surprise, mainly by the fact that he bore the leadership tattoo.

The fox in front of him just chuckled, his shoulders shaking as he did so. He didn't turn around, but unsheathed his sword and bent down to grab a rock, beginning to sharpen his sword. "Well, well, if it isn't my old enemy, Hunter." the fox said deeply. "It's been a while."

"Twenty-five years, to be exact, Lohfur. I see you've taken charge of the foxes now." Hunter said. "You've got the tattoo."

"Yes, I have. After Chief Frolok died of disease about twenty-four years ago, I took the leadership position of the fox tribe." Lohfur explained. "I take it your petty Chief Pronel is still alive and well, or is he dead, like Frolok?"

"Pronel's dead, alright. He was slaughtered within the first year of the dragons' war." Hunter replied. "Quite a gory death, too. Was an idiot and tried to fight a dragon in charge of the apes by himself. Lost all his limbs in the process, before he lost his head."

Lohfur scoffed, lifting his sword up and looking at both sides of the blade as he turned it over in his paw, back still facing Hunter. "I heard about the war. I must say that that's a bit of a tragedy. For you, that is." he said, chuckling at his own wit. "So who's in charge now? You?"

"Prowlus." Hunter simply answered.

"Really? That stubborn brat? He would refuse orders so much in our little war. It was so hilarious to watch!" Lohfur said.

"He's not _that_ bad. He's matured quite a bit upon becoming chief of the cheetahs. He's still a little stubborn at times and acts brashly, but he's come to learn that some of us, like myself have better judgement than him at times, and he does take our arguments into consideration." Hunter explained.

Lohfur burst into laughter. "He needs others to make decisions _for_ him? That's not a very confident leader." Lohfur said. "But enough with the pleasantries. Why are you here?"

Lohfur turned around, a neutral expression on his face, and Hunter saw his old enemy's face for the first time in twenty-five years. He realised how much the fox had grown from the young eighteen-year-old fox that he had last fought when he was twenty. Come to think of it, he had grown a lot as well. Twenty-five years does that to you. It only just dawned on him that he was forty-five. Lohfur would be about forty-three by now.

"I'm waiting…" Lohfur's impatient growl and tapping paw shook Hunter out of his thoughts.

"I'm here, in peace, because I heard that you have a human here somewhere." Hunter said. "By the name of Aaron."

"Oh yes, him." Lohfur said, beginning to pace slowly around the room. "Come to think of it, he was the one who told me about you. You apprenticed him in your petty archery skills, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Hunter said, his patience growing short. "Where is he?"

"I'll take you to him in all good time, Hunter. He's recovering now, and he shouldn't be disturbed." Lohfur explained innocently. "And healer's orders are to be abided by, remember?"

"So when can I see him?" Hunter growled.

Lohfur groaned. "I'm not one to turn down an offer like that, despite you being my greatest enemy, and the one who left me with an ugly scar on my neck. So… probably tomorrow, I guess. But I can't trust you. Until then, you're staying where I can keep watchful eyes on you." Lohfur growled.

"What, down here?" Hunter asked. "But I've got friends waiting for me outside!"

"Ah! It _is_ a trap!" Lohfur shouted, raising his sword and pointing it at Hunter's throat.

"No, it's not! They came with me in search of Aaron, and I said I'd go in here alone, and unarmed! I trust them not to follow me!" Hunter protested. "Plus, one of them is a dragon! She wouldn't be able to fit down here if she tried!"

"Fine. But I'll take some guards out there just in case. They'll let them know what's happening." Lohfur said, sheathing his sword quickly, but hesitantly.

"What? I can't go and tell them what's…?" Hunter exclaimed, but was interrupted.

"I said I want you here where you can be watched carefully!" Lohfur yelled, punching Hunter across the side of the face. "In case you haven't realised, I don't trust you! Especially not after that war we had!"

"A lot has changed, Lohfur. You'll come to see that if you just opened your eyes." Hunter growled.

"In case you can't see, my eyes _are_ open." Lohfur said, widening his eyes exaggeratingly to prove his point. "Now, follow me quietly, and we'll find you your temporary living quarters for tonight."

"Good, I'll have some privacy." Hunter sighed to himself.

To his annoyance, Lohfur heard his mutter. "Actually no, there'll be guards posted outside your room while you're here." Lohfur said innocently, leaving the room with a sneer pulling at his lips, exposing sharp, glistening fangs. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

* * *

"Wake up, cheetah!" a voice from outside cried. "It's half past noon!"

Hunter leapt up, his eyes blinking open. His right leg was cramped and his back was sore from the rough wooden bed that he had slept on. Honestly, it was more like a table, but he knew better than to complain to the foxes. "It's that late already?" Hunter called.

"Yes! Now get your lazy rear out of here or you'll get a good whooping!" the voice shouted.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" Hunter growled, standing up and putting his tunic and dark red coat on, before walking out the door, wincing as he stretched his cramping right leg.

He was greeted by Lohfur as he left his room. "You took your damn time, Hunter." Lohfur scowled. "What took you so long?"

"I guess I slept in, alright? I have no track of light down in these stupid tunnels." Hunter retorted, glaring angrily at Lohfur.

"Not that it really matters. I'll take you to Aaron, like you asked." Lohfur said, before turning to a fox beside him and whispering something to him.

Hunter narrowed his eyes as he watched Lohfur and the fox communicate in their whispers in public. The cheetah crossed his arms and tapped his paw on the ground, huffing with annoyance. "Alright, come with me." Lohfur said, turning and walking off down a tunnel.

Hunter followed Lohfur, and before long, he realised that the fox Lohfur had been talking to earlier was also following them, walking behind Hunter, watching the cheetah's every move intently. _Lohfur wasn't joking when he said he'd have a close eye on me yesterday._ Hunter thought, rolling his eyes. _But is this_ really _necessary? I mean come on, Lohfur's right next to me!_

After about a minute of walking, Lohfur led Hunter into a room with a few tables and a large, comfy bed (which Hunter suddenly felt jealous because he had barely a table to sleep on). It wasn't long before he saw who was in the bed. "Aaron!" Hunter cried hoarsely.

Aaron stirred in his bed and opened his eyes. "Hunter? What are you doing here?" Aaron asked.

Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but Lohfur spoke for him. "He came to find you. He heard what happened." Lohfur said, and Hunter noticed the change in expression when Lohfur talked to Aaron, and glared angrily at Lohfur. "We'll leave you alone to talk."

Lohfur and the other fox left the room. Hunter wasn't sure they had left entirely. They were probably outside. "What's wrong, Hunter?" Aaron asked, sitting up in his bed, revealing his bloodied bandage around his left arm.

Hunter let out a growl, not even realising the red material that had come into view. "I don't like how Lohfur's been acting. I've tried to show him that we're not who we used to be during the war, but he won't listen." Hunter scowled.

"He's perfectly fine." Aaron said.

"To you, he might be. Not to me." Hunter said.

Suddenly, Hunter paused as he caught sight of Aaron's left arm. He walked slowly forward until he was right next to Aaron. His eyes never left the red bandage that was wrapped around his arm. "Are you… are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Hunter. It does hurt, but not too much. My arm's still slightly numb." Aaron said.

"Once the numbing stops, that thing's going to hurt like hell." Hunter said.

"I'm leaving today." Aaron said.

"No, you're not!" Hunter shouted. "Your arm has been ripped to _shreds_!"

"Hunter, I have an idea. The apes used to be able to extract the energy from red health gems during the war, did they not?" Aaron said. "They could use the power on themselves. Maybe we could try it again on me."

Hunter crossed his arms. "How can you be sure they remember how to do that? It's been years since they last did that. They don't even really remember how to fight!" Hunter argued. "You can't expect them to remember something as complex as that!"

"Cynder was the one who taught them how to do it, wasn't she?" Aaron asked. "Maybe _she_ might remember."

"I… I don't know. We could try." Hunter said, unsure about the idea.

Hunter scowled as he felt another presence in the room. He turned and saw Lohfur enter the room again, leaning onto the dirt wall, resting his elbow on it. "You don't need to get the apes or Cynder to do it. _I_ know how to do it. I'm the only fox who knows how to do the art of gem extraction." Lohfur explained.

"Please! I need to get back out there!" Aaron said.

"A natural healing is the best way for a wound like that to heal!" Lohfur retorted. "If you try to rush it, especially since your body isn't designed for use of the red gems, it may react differently than it should!"

"And if it works?" Aaron argued. "I need to be out there. Apes are in danger. A war is coming and I feel like it's my fault. It started just because of my damned _existence_! A natural healing would take months and months for something like this! Probably years!"

"Please, Lohfur. Just this once." Hunter pleaded.

Lohfur thought for a while, before letting out a large groan. "Fine. Get Aaron to his feet and follow me." Lohfur said, walking out of the room.

* * *

"Lie down here." Lohfur said, gesturing to a table (that was still better than what Hunter slept on the night before, and Hunter only just managed to keep in his annoyed groan).

Aaron lied down on the table, and Hunter watched with worry as Lohfur undid the bandage around Aaron's arm, revealing the massive wound. It was still bleeding, bright red with peeled, mangled flesh and bone visible inside the wound. Hunter retched at the horrific sight and the repulsive stench of blood. _How could Spyro do this?_ the cheetah thought, shocked at how the calm, passive purple dragon he knew would suddenly go all aggressive on Aaron.

As Hunter thought this, Cynder's words echoed through his head. _Dark Spyro's taken control of him._

 _It's not all Spyro._ Hunter reminded himself. _Things are happening now that none of us can handle on our own. Spyro's in trouble._

"Alright, pass me some red gems in our storage." Lohfur told a short, blood-orange fox that was helping him with the operation.

The fox left, and soon returned with about three large red gems. "Thank you." Lohfur said.

He grabbed the gems and walked over to a bench that had a bunch of tools on it. Lohfur put some gloves on and grabbed a sharp tool. It looked like some sort of round cutter with a long handle at the end of it. Lohfur carefully put the rounded blade into the gems, cutting through them about half way before taking it out again. It must be extremely sharp, even sharper than a sword, to be able to cut through a crystal. But then again, if mere dragon claws could cut through the gems, then a sharp blade of metal should do just as well, if it was forged and sharpened correctly. Lohfur then grabbed a jug and poured some water into the holes in each of the gems, shaking them around slightly. He then walked over to a fireplace, grabbing a stick and a torch and lighting the stick on fire, before throwing it into the coals and wood. Grabbing some metal prongs, Lohfur grabbed each one of the gems with the prongs and held them in the fire for a few seconds. When he was done with each of them, he dumped a bucket of water into the fire, extinguishing it and picking up the gems. He poured the water inside the gems into a container, which was now glowing red. As he poured the red water into the container, the gems went grey, the energy taken out of them.

Lohfur walked towards Aaron and hesitated. "This may hurt." he warned.

"I almost had my fricking arm bitten off. I think I can handle it." Aaron said through gritted teeth, preparing himself for the pain to come.

Lohfur put one hand on Aaron's mauled arm, gripping it firmly. Aaron hissed air through his teeth, and Lohfur didn't look back at Aaron. Hunter held his breath as Lohfur poured the still hot, red water into the wound. Aaron let out a few pained grunts as the hot liquid poured into his flesh. Before long, all the water had been poured into the wound, and Lohfur stood back.

Hunter gasped as he saw the edges of Aaron's wound glow bright red, and the skin began to reform. The visible, snapped blood vessels were reconnected and more tissue began to form around his bone. Before long, all that was left was a large, ugly scar on Aaron's arm, but the wound had completely closed. "What the…? It worked!" Aaron said, lifting his left arm up and flexing his fingers.

"Thank you." Hunter said to Lohfur.

Lohfur just shrugged. "Just doing my job as a healer." he said. "Now, you can go… do… whatever it is you want to do."

Aaron stood up. "Thank you so much. You know, you could make this a job or something. You could get accepted back into society." he said.

"Aaron has a point, Lohfur. This could do you good." Hunter said with a smile. "There aren't really enough healers out there that aren't in Warfang. Even Warfang may be in need of some more."

Lohfur looked down at his paws before a faint smile tugged at his lips. "I'll think about it." Lohfur said, shrugging.

"Anyway, we'd better go now." Hunter said.

"Yeah. See you. And thanks!" Aaron said.

Lohfur just nodded in reply and led Aaron and Hunter out of the room. They went to Aaron's temporary recovery room and he grabbed his stuff, before they left the foxes, without an escort.

* * *

"Aaron!" Cynder cried as Aaron and Hunter walked out of the underground tunnels. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine." Aaron said.

"But… but… but Spyro said he bit you! Where's the wound?! Where did the blood come from?!" Cynder exclaimed, almost hysterical.

"I said I'm fine, Cynder." Aaron repeated. "Spyro _did_ bite me, and had it not been for the foxes and their healing skills and knowledge, especially that of the red gems, I would still be recovering, and wouldn't be healed properly for several more months due to the extent of what my wound was."

"It was that bad?" Cynder asked.

"I'm glad you didn't have to see it." Aaron said.

"So am I. But I'm also not." Cynder said, unsure of what she wanted, looking down at her paws. "Aaron, I want to know to what extent Spyro hurt you. He needs to know what he did. _I_ need to know what he did."

"Trust me, you do not want to see what his wound was like. It's better that we just leave it for now." Hunter said.

Cynder closed her eyes, letting a tear slip down her cheek. Fear gripped her, and she fell to the ground, her body wracked by heavy sobs. Aaron turned walked towards Cynder to comfort her, but all of a sudden, he was snatched from the sky as a young electric dragon swooped from the sky. Cynder looked up at the dragon, who was holding Aaron tightly by the shoulders, the human's shouts of protests fading away as the dragon flew into the distance. Cynder suddenly realised with a gasp who the dragon was. "Shocker!" Cynder shouted.

"Where's he taking him?!" Horilith cried.

"Warfang, without a doubt! Let's go!" Hunter scowled, running after Shocker and Aaron.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" a voice called from behind them.

Hunter turned around. His jaw dropped when he saw who spoke, and he raised an eyebrow. "Really, Lohfur?" Hunter asked angrily. "You threaten me, and treat me like scum, and _now_ you want to try and be my ally?!"

"I've seen a change in you, Hunter. You actually cared for Aaron, and you _purposely_ came into the dens _unarmed_." Lohfur said. "I care for Aaron, Hunter, kind of like you. Kind of. But most importantly, like you said, I reckon I should give you cheetahs a second chance. I've seen you change, Hunter, and I'm sure the rest of the cheetahs have, too."

"You're bringing them, too. Aren't you?" Hunter asked as three more armed foxes stepped up behind Lohfur. "You still don't trust me."

"Not entirely, no. But I don't plan to need to fight you. If the dragons are so against Aaron, then, knowing them, we'll need to defend ourselves if they want to fight." Lohfur explained.

"Smart choice." Hunter said, with a faint chuckle.

"So, are we going or not?" Ulfitz asked.

"Cynder's already gone." Horilith replied, pointing to the sky where Cynder's silhouette flew up high in the sky against the sunset.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lohfur asked, and he, the three foxes accompanying him, and the three cheetahs ran off in the direction of Warfang.

* * *

 **Quite a few time-skips, but most of what was in between was walking in silence and night-time, when Hunter would have been asleep. But I'm proud of this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy what's to come; some great chapters are coming in the action sequence that is about three chapters away.**


	40. Chapter 39: A Plan

**Just had an amazing birthday dinner and I'm full to the brim. Had a great day, and thanks to the two reviewers who wished me a happy birthday! :P**

 **Anyway, I managed to find time to edit another chapter (I haven't started work on Chapter 30 of my other story yet), so this will probably be the last chapter I get up before I am unable to work on any fanfiction. I might get one up tomorrow if I can get time, but I don't know.**

 **I also found a bunch of old _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fanfictions that I wrote long before _Broken Perceptions_ was even a thought in my head (back when writing _FNAF_ fanfictions was a thing). If you're interested in them, because I think I had a few good ideas with them, I might try and re-write them and post them on FFnet. The series I wrote was a six-part series (they were all pretty short, except for the sixth instalment; still haven't even written the fourth instalment yet, but I had everything planned out pretty nicely), so there's plenty of stuff to look forward to. Unfortunately, they're more dialogue-based than action-based, so they're significantly shorter (I also wasn't as experienced as I am now, and the individual stories weren't as complex as this). But if you all want to see the old _FNAF_ stuff I have lying around, I might get around to rebooting them. I'll probably end up updating the _FNAF_ fanfiction series alongside my five-part _Spyro_ fanfiction series. They'll stick around the T rating, unlike the _Spyro_ one. The _FNAF_ fanfictions do stray away from the canon storyline (however the games have quite a confusing, sneaky storyline that has a lot of information hidden, so I can kind of do that because the storyline isn't that straight-forward), and I had begun writing them before _Sister Location_ (the fifth game) came out, so that puts into perspective how old they are. I stopped writing them about two months before the Custom Night update for _Sister Location_ came out, which had a really big twist in the storyline, so anything revealed in _Sister Location_ 's Custom Night update or _Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator_ (still haven't finished it so don't spoil it) will not be featured in the fanfictions. Important moments from the original four games like the Bite of '83 and the Bite of '87 will be included, except I have my own spin on them.**

 **And for those who don't know what _Five Nights at Freddy's_ is, it's probably one of the most well-known indie-horror titles, and it was the game that got me into the horror genre.**

 **Also, please share this around if you want, and review, because when I get back from my writing break, I'd like lots of feedback and suggestions, potentially also _FNAF_ -related suggestions for the _FNAF_ series I mentioned earlier, if you know enough about _FNAF_.**

 **Well, I'm gonna respond to some reviews now (I haven't gotten that many reviews on a chapter in a while, so got a few to respond to; this A/N's probably going to be quite lengthy).**

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', I know that the amount of time-skipping was kind of bleh, but I really didn't want to be writing boring stuff that would have happened in between, amongst night-time, Hunter being knocked out, and the few scenes where the characters would have just been walking through the tunnels in silence, so yeah… And I actually increased a bit of the gore and detail a little bit on Aaron's wound in the last chapter, kind of to prepare you for what's coming. What will come in _Broken Perceptions_ won't be too gore-intensive, but the other _Spyro_ fanfic I'm writing will be pretty bad in gore terms, which will result in it being M, so it's kind of like a mild build-up/preparation for that. And yes, the next mishap will be happening _real_ soon. The real build-up for it happens next chapter, but it all starts the chapter after it. Also, I went really out of my comfort zone for Chapter 41. Some of you may be able to figure out what that chapter may include, but if not, it'll come as a surprise for you. Hopefully. I'm proud of it.**

 **To a guest, I agree that it's similar to _A Troubled Soul_. I actually haven't read it, but it's on my to-read list, and it sounds really interesting by the looks of the summary. It does seem similar to _Broken Perceptions_ , except for the fact that (I can tell just by looking at the summary) it has a few plot concepts that can be overused that I purposely avoided. But I think that those plot concepts have been done well, and I should get into reading it soon… once I get up-to-date with _Dark Legacy 2_ and finish reading _The Hobbit_ (gosh, I'm struggling to get through _Hobbit_ ).**

 **And to 'UNNES1000', to be honest, I forgot about the Chronicler, much as I did with Sparx. Sparx _will_ be coming in a few later chapters, because he's an important character and has been with Spyro since the start of everything, back in 1999 when _Spyro the Dragon_ first came out. But the Chronicler (Ignitus) isn't as important, and to be honest, it's another plot concept that's overused, but it's actually a pretty important thing that can be taken in a lot of different ways. Unfortunately, Ignitus will not make an appearance in _Broken Perceptions_ (apart from the statue cameo he had back in Chapter 13), but he will have quite a big role in the five-part _Spyro_ fanfiction series that I'm writing, so you will see a bit more of Ignitus from me. But if I was to include Ignitus, I'd have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to do a good scene with him and Aaron… doing his scenes in my other fanfiction series was hard enough.**

 **Well, big rant over… geez, this A/N is probably as long as the one in Chapter 6, probably longer. I apologise for this massive long A/N, but there were quite a few reviews I wanted to respond to, and I wanted to let you all know about the old _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fanfictions I had written ages ago, and to ask you if you want to see them. Anyway, onto the next chapter, enjoy.**

* * *

Night came, and darkness swallowed Warfang. Spyro looked up and saw the dark form of the yellow dragon descending towards him, and he let out a snort. Aaron looked so pathetic in Shocker's claws, and he struggled to contain his laughter. "I got it, just like you asked, Spyro." Shocker said, dropping Aaron onto the ground in front of Spyro with a heavy thud as he landed.

"Good." Spyro said darkly, grinning evilly as he stared down at Aaron.

Aaron coughed. He tried to stand up, but Spyro swiped his claws across his back to keep him downed, leaving large, bloody cuts across Aaron's back, as his shirt ripped and exposed his bare skin. Aaron shouted in pain. He looked up and saw the two young dragons chuckling. Shocker turned to Spyro. "What should we do with it?" the fourteen-year-old electric dragon asked.

"Take it to General Icebreath. He'll decide what to do." Spyro replied.

"What? Not the elders? Or even the guardians?"

"No. The elders are not on our side, and the guardians are undecided, their bonds breaking apart as they fight with each other. It's best to keep them out of this; General Icebreath is the best go-to for this situation."

Another voice pulled Spyro and Shocker out of their quiet conversation. "Spyro! Spyro, what are you doing?!" Cynder cried as she flew down towards them.

"Quick!" Spyro scowled to Shocker. "Take the ape and take it to General Icebreath."

Shocker nodded and grabbed Aaron in his claws. He groaned in pain, and Shocker took to the sky towards General Icebreath's house. Spyro turned to watch as Cynder completely disregarded him, changing course to fly after Shocker. Thinking quickly, Spyro breathed a beam of ice at Cynder. From her belly to her tailblade, she was encased in a hard layer of ice. It weighted her down, and she fell to the ground, slightly lopsided. She landed on the ground awkwardly, and screamed in pain as her wing was wrenched in an odd direction, snapping loudly. The ice around Cynder shattered on impact, but with a broken wing, she couldn't fly off after Shocker. Spyro smirked with triumph. He walked ominously towards Cynder, unable to wipe the dark smile off his face.

Cynder scrambled backwards, an expression of fear on her face. She let out small whimpers, and Spyro laughed with satisfaction. "To be honest, Cynder, you should be reported and taken to General Icebreath, too." he said darkly, his low voice rumbling ominously and slicing through the silence of the night. "You've sided with the apes. You've returned to your old ways."

"You don't believe that." Cynder said, her voice low and quaking as she spoke with utter caution. "You don't believe that! You can't _possibly_ believe what you just said. I know you, Spyro. You wouldn't think of me like the monster I once was."

"You don't know that." Spyro retorted, his voice surprisingly soft, and, Cynder hated to admit, was also quite soothing. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did. Because I saw you turn. I saw the things you've done. I saw you turn against the dragons back in the underground ape city. You fought _for_ the apes!"

Spyro saw Cynder's eyes glisten with moisture as tears threatened to stream from her eyes. She shook her head as she muttered indistinctly. "You've thrown your lot in with them, Cynder. You don't deserve to call yourself a dragon of Warfang. You don't deserve to call yourself a dragon at all, you worm." he continued.

He stretched his neck forward and opened his jaws, bringing them around the back of Cynder's neck and biting down forcefully. She cried out in pain as blood dripped from her neck. Spyro tasted her blood on his tongue, and his eyes gleamed as he revelled in the metallic taste. He began to step backwards, and pulled. Cynder cried out again as Spyro began to drag Cynder along the ground. "Stop! Stop! It hurts!" Cynder cried.

Spyro released Cynder's neck, which was now red with blood, as was his lips. "It's nothing compared to the pain you've caused me." Spyro said with a hideous smile, his bloodied lips making the gesture more horrifying.

Suddenly, Cynder disappeared into her shadow, and Spyro let out a growl as he lost sight of it as Cynder moved away in the darkness. _At least I have the ape._ Spyro thought with a grin as he leapt into the air to follow Shocker.

"Cynder! What happened?!" Hunter exclaimed as Cynder unveiled herself from the shadows in front of him.

"Spyro! It's Spyro!" Cynder wept. "He did this to me!"

"What?!"

"I… I don't know why! He just attacked me!"

"Do you know where Aaron is?" Lohfur asked.

"Shocker, the electric dragon, flew off with him. I only just managed to catch a little bit of their conversation before Spyro attacked me and Shocker left." Cynder recalled. "They were going to take Aaron to General Icebreath and let him decide what to do with Aaron."

"What?! The elders or guardians don't have a say in this?!" Hunter cried.

"Apparently not."

Hunter looked back at his companions; Lohfur and the three fox guards, as well as Ulfitz and Horilith. "What do we do then, Hunter?" Horilith asked, fearing the answer.

"We may have to get more involved than we wanted to. What we have to do to get Aaron may break our alliance with the dragons, but it'll be worth it. We just can't let Aaron die when he's done nothing wrong. The dragons' judgements are wrong, and clouded quite badly." Hunter said. "We're going in. We'll break into Warfang prison and rescue Aaron. Cynder can be our spy."

"But to communicate I'll have to keep leaving to find you. That won't work too well." Cynder said.

"Ah! No, you won't, Cynder!" Lohfur exclaimed, turning and walking towards a small cluster of tiny pink gems that glistened in the night.

"What are those?" Cynder asked as Lohfur plucked them from the ground.

"Are you serious? I thought you dragons would know what these are."

Cynder shook her head. "I guess they are kind of rare…" Lohfur muttered, before speaking up louder to explain what the pink crystals were. "They're crystals that allow some sort of audio and mental connection between two people holding the two gems from the same cluster. Which means we can talk to each other through the connection that these gems create."

"Really? That's so cool." Cynder exclaimed.

"Can you give me your choker?" Lohfur asked.

"My choker? What for?" Cynder asked, raising a paw to her neck to take off the metal choker around it.

"I'm going to put one of the crystals inside it. That way the other dragons won't know we'll be able to hear you, because I'm sure some of the older dragons may know about these pink crystals." Lohfur explained.

"But there's nowhere to put it. The choker's solid metal."

"That's why I'm going to get you to melt a small hole in the metal." Lohfur clarified. "With your poison element."

"Okay…" Cynder muttered, unsure about Lohfur's plan.

She took off the choker, which was stained with her blood from the bite wound Spyro had left on her neck. She gave it to Lohfur and he studied the inside of the connecting parts of the spiked choker. "Okay, just here will do." Lohfur said, turning the choker and showing the face of the metal that he wanted to put the crystal in. "I just need a little bit of venom. Just let a few droplets settle on your fang."

Cynder lowered her head, allowing venom to well up slowly inside her mouth before rolling her tongue around her fangs, smearing them with the venom. She opened her maw, and Lohfur recoiled at the smell of her foul breath. He walked forward and pressed the face of the metal choker up to the pointed end of a fang that had a small droplet of venom hanging from it. There was a faint sizzling sound as Lohfur stepped back, coughing heavily, the metal face of the choker beginning to melt slowly. Cynder raised her head and spat the remaining venom out onto the ground beside her, which ate through some blades of grass before the venom died out.

Lohfur waited a while before pointing the slowly melting metal face back towards Cynder. She hesitated, unsure what he was asking of her. "Suck it up." Lohfur said after a while. "The venom's melted enough of the metal."

Cynder lowered her head again and placed her lips to the cold metal and began to suck the venom out of the hole it had begun to create. Once she was sure it was gone, she raised her head and spat the venom out onto the ground again. Lohfur muttered to himself before placing one of the pink crystals inside the hole. "Sorry, Cynder, but can you lower your head one more time? This needs to be placed on carefully. The connection won't work if the pink gem isn't in its proper spot." he explained.

With a groan, Cynder obliged, and Lohfur stepped around to Cynder's neck. It was only then that he remembered that Cynder had been injured. Cynder saw the realisation flicker in Lohfur's eyes. "Please be careful. It still hurts a lot." Cynder pleaded.

"I know. I'll be very careful." Lohfur said.

About a minute later of very careful and precise movements, the choker was back in place around Cynder's neck. Lohfur stepped back and Cynder raised her head once again. "Now only you will be able to hear what's going on. Same with me. But you will be able to hear the voices of others around me, such as Hunter for example." Lohfur said.

"Okay, but where are you going to put your gem?" Cynder asked.

Lohfur reached into a pocket on his tunic and pulled out a necklace with a shiny sapphire inside it. "This was my mate's, before she died of a very serious infection after accidentally slicing the back of her neck open on a thorn." Lohfur explained, pulling out the sapphire and placing it in the pocket.

Lohfur put his own pink crystal inside the necklace before putting it around his neck, tucking the necklace underneath his tunic so the crystal couldn't be seen. "So, that's all done. What now?" Lohfur asked.

"Should I head back?" Cynder asked.

"I personally wouldn't." Hunter said.

"What? Why?" Cynder questioned, unsure why Hunter didn't want her to return back to Warfang.

"Because you're still wounded." Ulfitz said. "It's common sense. You need a bit of rest to let that heal."

"Ulfitz is right." Hunter added. "I'm sure Aaron will be alright for tonight. You can go in there and find Spyro and the other dragons in the morning and we'll figure out what to do then. Until then, we can set up camp here."

* * *

 **You guys probably don't want more A/N, but I want to say a little goodbye as I'm gonna be inactive for a few days, so… see you all soon, I guess. Please review, and share this story around so I can get more feedback, and let me know if you all want to see the _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fanfictions in the future.**

 **Until the next chapter, probably next week, see you soon!**


	41. Chapter 40: Love and Loss

**Ugh, that was pitiful. I'm back, so yay for that, but only two reviews in ten days was kind of worthless, given the fact that on quite a few of my earlier chapters, I got about six reviews in two days. And none of them mentioned the whole _FNAF_ fanfiction thing that I explained… I really want your opinion on those, in whether I should post them or not. If there's no opinion, I probably won't post them, because I want to spend my time on my _Spyro_ fanfics, which I'm really proud of. But hey, _Broken Perceptions_ hit 20 000 views, so I'm still slightly happy!**

 **Anyway, this chapter is actually two chapters merged into one. Odd, I know, since normally people split chapters in half because they're too long, but the original Chapter 40 was only 470 words (pretty crap, I know), so I combined the original Chapter 41 with it. It still flows well, so I'm really happy about that. And also, I stepped out of my comfort zone in the second part of this chapter, and I think it went really well.**

 **Well, I can assure you, 'LoNeWoLf', that Shocker and Icebreath will be in for a hell of a ride once things get intense with Dark Spyro. Although what I have planned may shock you a little bit, I don't know.**

 **Please leave more reviews because I'm lonely without your feedback because I have no friends and I want to see what you all think of my writing and if you want to see the _FNAF_ fanfiction thing so please please pleeeeeease review. Thank you. *cheesy anime smile***

 **Onto the chapter!**

* * *

"I'm back, General." Spyro said, walking up to General Icebreath.

"Good. I don't think he'll be able to escape, but I think we should get someone to keep watch on him while we figure out what to do with him." the ice dragon replied.

"What, you're not going to make the decision yourself?"

"I thought you could help me out. After all, _you_ found him. And you're also the only dragon who I know shares discomfort about the ape to the same extent as me. And you could be useful."

"I'm glad to be able to help."

General Icebreath smiled before turning towards a guard at the front prison doors. "Hey, Skar! Get over here and guard this ape!" he ordered.

A brutally scarred and maimed earth dragon walked up to General Icebreath and Spyro, looking at both of them and nodding, before halting to a complete stand-still outside of Aaron's cell. Spyro felt slightly uncomfortable near the stocky, injured dragon. One of his eyes was completely white, devoid of any sight, with a huge, ugly scar running down the side of his face and over the sightless eye, pink flesh dark and putrid. His snout was longer than those of most dragons, and he had long, jagged fangs, some of which were missing. The fangs hung out over his jaws, making him look similar to one of the primitive reptilian creatures that rivalled the civilised dragons in the ancient times. _Crocodiles, I think one of the species were called._ Spyro recalled.

"Alright, we'll head off into a place a little more… private… so we can discuss these terms." General Icebreath said, turning and leading him down a long, winding corridor with many turn-offs into other cell rooms, dining rooms, and many other rooms.

They entered an office, which had a few piles of parchment and files lying around in the room, with a pot of ink and a quill pen. Spyro guessed that this was General Icebreath's office. "Now, Spyro." General Icebreath said. "Is there anything you had in mind?"

"Not much, really. But something slightly old-fashioned." Spyro replied, shrugging. "That could be fun."

"Old-fashioned? I like the sound of it already. And I think I know where you're going with this as well."

"A public execution. Nobody likes this ape. And it's in our paws now. We can do whatever we want with it. Probably best we get rid of it once and for all."

"I like your thinking. Tomorrow afternoon, perhaps?"

"That could work. Best get it over and done with quickly. No need to delay in getting rid of the ape that has caused us so much trouble."

"Perfect." General Icebreath said as a dark smirk tugged at his lips. "Tomorrow afternoon it is. We'll get rid of this ape nuisance, and then we can go back to our normal lives!"

"Can I ask one thing?" Spyro asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

"That _I_ be the one to execute it."

"All fine with me." General Icebreath replied with a nod of respect. "You _are_ the purple dragon and the saviour of the world. I don't see a problem with that. Plus, you've gotten closer than anybody else to killing it. I suppose you should be the one to… finish your job."

Spyro let out a low chuckle, baring gleaming fangs. He had been waiting for this moment for seven whole days. The time would finally come for him to kill the creature that had come to torment them with lies and violence.

* * *

"Cynder? What are you doing here?" Spyro asked, opening the front door.

"I wanted to check on you. Your condition's been getting worse." Cynder replied, walking in without being invited in, despite the fact that it was her house too.

"Condition? What condition?"

"I thought you would know. You know, Dark Spyro?"

"I'm still me, Cynder. What in the ancestors' names are you talking about? Dark Spyro hasn't made an appearance since two years ago at the Belt of Fire, you know that."

"Just that… you know what, never mind."

A voice spoke to Cynder, and it took a while for her to realise it was Lohfur from the other end of the connection the pink gem had created between them. "Ask him about Aaron. See if he has any information he can spill to us."

"So where's Aar… the ape?" Cynder asked, catching herself before she could say Aaron's name, for fear of upsetting Spyro.

"The prison." Spyro replied scornfully. "Why would you come to me to ask that, you traitor? But it doesn't matter. It's being executed this afternoon."

Cynder felt her heart skip a beat. She heard Lohfur gasp. But Spyro continued talking, a longing tone in his voice. "And then after that, everything will be back to normal. Just us dragons. You and me. We can finally live a peaceful life again after all this is over. We can be the mates we were meant to be for each other."

"M-m-mates?" Cynder asked.

To be honest, they were still dating. They hadn't decided to take the extra step to become mates yet, despite the amount of nagging they had gotten from everybody in Warfang over the past year. Everyone wanted to see the purple saviour become soul-mates with the ex-Terror and co-saviour of the world. Cynder personally wanted to wait until she was out of her teenage years. She felt that until she turned twenty, she would be too young to have such thoughts about spending the rest of her life with a male dragon. The male in question being Spyro.

"Yes, Cynder; my love." Spyro replied, taking Cynder out of her thoughts. "You know, two years may have passed, but you're still as beautiful as the day you told me you loved me."

Cynder didn't know how to respond. But she felt the need to say something to Spyro. "Thank you, I guess…" she replied nervously.

She tried to rip her gaze away from Spyro's, but his violet eyes were captivating. Attractive even. The same eyes that she had gotten lost in two years ago. The same eyes that were filled with determination to save the world, and the dragon race. She couldn't turn away no matter how hard she tried. Cynder felt tears well up in her eyes. What should she do? What should she say? The questions whirled in her head until it hurt. "What's wrong, Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"I… I don't know. I just… I just feel like everything's going wrong. These past few days have been hard."

"I'm here for you, Cynder. I love you, Cynder. I always have, and I always will. I'll never leave you."

"Words can't promise me that. I'm sorry. So many things have been said to me from many different mouths over the past eight days, including _your own_ mouth, that have hurt me. I need something more than simply words to tell me that."

Immediately, Spyro lunged at her. She thought with fear that he was going to attack her, but an odd sensation came over her as her body hit the wall that was different. It wasn't pain. She didn't feel Spyro's claws rip through her flesh like she expected. No blood. No nothing.

Except their first kiss.

Cynder didn't fight back. She closed her eyes and revelled in the sensation she felt. It was… odd to say the least, but she liked it. Throughout the two years they had been dating, they had never kissed before.

But then she remembered everything else that was going on. What was driving the kiss? Was this really Spyro? He'd always been uncomfortable at the thought of a kiss. She used to tease him about it, and he'd always squirm and act uninterested. And then she remembered all the violence. The blood, the screams. The death. Everything that had happened back at Arriax. Everything that had happened to Aaron. Cynder suddenly didn't think the kiss was worth it, and she lost the soothing sensation of Spyro's lips against her own.

She rose her paws and pushed against Spyro. He obviously got the wrong message as he let out a small, muffled chuckle. She grunted in protest, but he still had the wrong message. She suddenly wasn't liking it anymore. _Stop! Go away!_ Cynder thought.

Doing the only thing she thought she could, she raised a claw and slashed it across Spyro's flank. He pulled back and let out a shout as small beads of blood began to drip from the wound. "What? Didn't you like it?" Spyro asked.

"I… I did, but… I don't think now's the time." Cynder breathed, finally glad that the kiss was over. It had felt like hours, but in reality, the kiss had lasted only mere seconds. "There's… there's too much going on."

"Alright, I get that. We may have rushed into it a bit."

" _We_?! _You_ were the one who kissed me!" Cynder retorted.

"I thought you said you liked it. And you said you needed something other than words to promise you that I'd never leave you. That was the best thing I could think of!"

Cynder noticed with sadness that Spyro was tearing up. Did Spyro think she was rejecting her? She didn't want him to think that, but in her heart, she knew what was best. "I… I think we need to put our relationship on a pause for now, until things pass." Cynder said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "We can't be living like this, living a double-life, throughout all that's happening."

"What? What do you mean? Don't you love me? Were those three words I heard just a hallucination?"

Spyro's voice was filled with more pain than she ever wanted to hear from him, and she knew that she had made a mistake. Spyro's voice broke with emotion, and his eyes were red as tears began to stream down his cheeks. His bottom lip quivered as he sniffled back a sob. Cynder knew she had dug a hole too far to escape from now. It was too late to turn back. She had to go with it. "Just think about it. We're in a war that _you_ started, Spyro. We can't be living on the edge of the battlefield sneaking in little romantic visits like this. I think until things calm down and this war ends, we should… go our own separate ways for a while." she said, her heart breaking as she said the words, slightly harsher than she intended.

"Why?! Why are you doing this to me?! _You_ were the one who told me you loved me back when we defeated Malefor! Are you seriously _dumping_ me?!" Spyro shouted, his voice getting dreadfully shaky as his eyes went red with tears. Spyro let out a sob. It hurt Cynder to see Spyro like this; she had never seen him this emotional before.

"I'm not dumping you, Spyro! It's a temporary break from all of this! A _hiatus_! I think it's something that we need! If we don't go our own paths for a while, it could cause our relationship to break down entirely! In a time of war like this, especially one that _you_ started, we can't be doing this! I just went through that!"

"Why don't you care about me, Cynder?! _Why_?! WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!"

"You didn't do _anything_ wrong, Spyro! I'm doing this _because_ I care!" Cynder cried, her heart tearing in two as Spyro broke down into a sobbing wreck in front of her. She heard Lohfur talking to her indistinctly, but she wasn't listening. "This is _war_ , Spyro! If anyone should know what's best in a war, it's _me_! I _led_ war, Spyro. I think I know what direction is the best way for our relationship to be going in a situation like this! If not, at least for _my_ side of our relationship! I was a part of war for my whole life! Thirteen whole years longer than you ever were!"

Spyro let out a scream of pure emotional agony, his words slurred as he began foaming at the mouth, spittle spraying from his lips as he shouted. "YOU LED A DARK ARMY! HOW DO I KNOW YOU'RE NOT CORRUPTED?! HOW DO I KNOW YOU WANT THIS TO END, JUST SO YOU CAN HURT ME?!" he shrieked, collapsing to the floor as his body shook. "YOU'RE A _MONSTER_! YOU _LIED_ TO ME!"

The purple dragon inhaled hoarsely, swallowing, before bursting into heavy sobs that wracked his body. He let out loud whimpering sobs for a few more seconds before continuing, in a slightly calmer tone, but still in an agonised shout. "I kissed you because I thought it was all _real_! But you _lied_! You lied about _all_ of it! We've been living a lie for the past two years, and it's _all your fault_!" he howled.

"Until you can make this war stop, we can get together again. Until then, I think it's best to put our relationship on a short hiatus." Cynder said, tears streaming down her face as she turned to leave, before pausing to say one final thing. "You brought this upon yourself, Spyro. I'm sorry."

" _I HATE YOU!_ " Spyro howled as Cynder walked out, and she hated herself for what she had done.

"Are you alright?" she heard Lohfur ask her through their connection.

Cynder sniffled, before replying in a soft mutter as she choked on her tears. "No, I'm not alright. I feel terrible."

"You did the right thing. You did what you felt was right, and I applaud you for that. Sometimes it's hard to make the right choices, and sometimes it's painful."

"But now Spyro thinks our relationship was all a lie."

"Then make sure that once this all passes, that you let him know that it wasn't. Let him know why you did what you did."

Cynder nodded, even though she knew Lohfur couldn't see the motion. She walked off into Warfang, lost in thought.

* * *

 **Ooooh, a little bit of romance there before Cynder had to ruin the moment. I'm not much of a romance person, as I've explained on my profile, but I figured I might give it a go (I'm taking writing fanfictions as some good practise and a chance to do some experimenting), and I think it turned out really well.**

 **And Aaron's gonna be executed, too. That's going to happen next chapter, and if nobody can stop it, then I guess the story's over. *he he***

 **Well, hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter, whenever that is.**


	42. Chapter 41: Execution Day

**I meant to get this up last night but everything glitched and it removed everything I copied from Word from my clipboard, and I was too lazy to reopen word to grab it all again (it was 10:30 when I tried to post this chapter). But I love this chapter so much. It's probably the goriest chapter though, since it's a torture/execution scene, but I love it.**

 **I also may not get as many chapters up this week as I got my birthday present yesterday (it's a Novation Launchkey), so I'll be spending a lot of time being musical until school starts up again.**

 **Also, thank you to 'lord typhlosion' and 'Cptslapem' for addressing the _FNAF_ fanfiction that I expected to have opinions on the previous chapter, but oh well. I'm still iffy about posting them, since they're pretty crap and I'll have to do a lot of work on it, but I'm leaning more towards the side of I do want to post them. They were the first fanfiction series I made that I took seriously (and the oldest that I still have; the crappy _Skylanders_ ones I made were thrown away and I don't have them anymore), and it'll be good to show the progress and how far I've come since I started. And 'Cptslapem' did prove a good point in getting it out before _FNAF_ fades away (especially with the Ultimate Custom Night coming out for _Pizzeria Simulator_ ), although I highly doubt it will because of how big it was when it first came out. Since I got into it when _FNAF 3_ came out, it always has and always will have a special place in my heart. So I will probably start posting them sometime, probably after the Ultimate Custom Night comes out, but I will spend more time on the _Spyro_ fanfic series I'm working on as they're much better and I have a lot of good ideas swimming about for them. The _FNAF_ ones are basically finished (I haven't started Part 4 and Part 6 is half-finished; I know, I wrote them weirdly and out of order), so it'll mostly be rewrites and editing to do. A lot of rewrites and editing.**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter that I'm really happy with (probably my favourite chapter aside from Chapter 46).**

* * *

"Come."

The order roused Aaron from his sleep. How long had he been sleeping for? It was late in the morning, possibly early afternoon or midday; he could tell that by the blinding light that came through the tiny windows in the prison. Aaron looked up and saw General Icebreath standing in front of him, the door to his prison cell open. A hideous grin was on General Icebreath's face, and a chill went down Aaron's spine.

Aaron stood, reluctantly obeying the order, and walked towards the prison guard. Suddenly, General Icebreath lashed out with massive claws and cut him across the stomach, drawing heaps of blood. Aaron staggered, disoriented and groaning with pain, putting a hand to the wall to stop himself from falling to the floor. He breathed heavily, before looking up at General Icebreath to see that he was chuckling softly to himself, his shoulders heaving from the chuckles. He looked down at his torso to see that his shirt had been ripped to shreds. Pieces of fabric were falling into his wounds, causing even more pain, and there wasn't much point of having it on in its state of wreck. So he tore it off, exposing his bare flesh.

"What are you doing, ape? I said to come." General Icebreath taunted, chuckling gleefully.

Aaron looked up and scowled at General Icebreath, breathing heavily, before stepping forward. The ice dragon didn't attack him this time, lucky for Aaron. "Follow." he ordered, and Aaron did so.

General Icebreath led Aaron into a small room, where a bunch of large chains were. General Icebreath wrapped a chain tight around his front left ankle, before slamming Aaron painfully to the wall and wrapping the other end of the chain to the human's waist. "Now come out with me. You don't want to miss your execution this afternoon, do you?"

 _Execution?! What the hell is going on?! Does Cynder or Volteer know? Or Hunter or Lohfur?_ Aaron thought, sweat beginning to form on his forehead as fear gripped his chest tightly. _When was this organised?! I can't die here! I can't die now! I have a home! I have a life!_

General Icebreath turned and walked off, pulling Aaron painfully off his feet and onto his back. He was dragged along the floor, the wounds from the night before peeling open even more as he was dragged along the cobblestones. Aaron cried out painfully, and General Icebreath paused for a moment. "Get up, you lazy brute! What are you doing, lying around on the floor?! Get up and get moving!" General Icebreath shouted.

Aaron growled, before getting to his feet. He began to walk quickly, almost at the pace of a jog, to catch up with General Icebreath so he wouldn't be swept off his feet again. General Icebreath walked out of the prison, and as Aaron followed, the bright sunlight exploded in his face, blinding him temporarily.

They walked for a few minutes, and Aaron had no idea where they were going. Honestly, it reminded him of his third day in the Dragon Realms, when General Icebreath had led him to the Warfang Temple for the interrogation. How long ago that seemed, and how bad things had gone since then. He got the same distrusting faces, the same snarls, and the same rude comments. The snarling faces didn't unnerve him as much anymore. Probably because of everything that had happened to him over the past few days. The fighting, the blood, the death. The time he had almost wanted to embrace death after Spyro had viciously mauled his arm to what seemed like the point of no return.

They turned a corner and Aaron was led into a large courtyard filled with dragons. There was a large podium in the middle of the courtyard, where Spyro stood, watching him with a dark expression. Bloodlust filled his eyes, and his lips were pulled back in a hideous grin that exposed all his fangs. Aaron shuddered as he remembered the agony those very fangs had caused him. The horrible sensation of those large jagged spikes of calcium ripping through his flesh. Aaron swore he could still see a faint smudge of red on some of Spyro's yellow fangs. Whether it was his blood or the blood of a poor piece of prey, Aaron didn't know, but he sure hoped it was blood of prey. And Aaron suddenly figured out why Spyro was up there. He didn't know where the thought came from, but he realised it was probably true.

Spyro was the one who was going to take his life in front of hundreds, possibly thousands of dragons.

General Icebreath walked up onto the podium, with Aaron following. He and Spyro nodded politely to each other, and Aaron could have assumed that they were the best of friends if not for their age difference, rank, and the immense change of events over the past few days.

" _Silence_!" General Icebreath roared, and the crowd of dragons hushed almost immediately, the sound of silence hammering painfully against Aaron's ears. He preferred the noise that had filled the courtyard earlier, but now, there was nothing except General Icebreath's booming voice and his own heart hammering against his chest. "Today is the day where everything will return to normal, when all the forces of darkness will finally be eradicated! Today is the day where this pitiful ape will finally be brought to its knees, and die in front of everybody here!"

The crowd erupted in cheers. Aaron looked out over the crowd. Not one dragon did he recognise. Until he saw a young dragon near the front of the podium that he recognised. Shocker, the dragon that had attacked him in the forest just outside of the Cheetah Village during the Annual Cheetah Archery Competition. And then he swore he could have seen Pyra somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Her mate stood next to her, and they both cheered loudly, sending roars of triumph into the sky, as did every other dragon in the courtyard.

General Icebreath rose a paw, and silenced every dragon in the courtyard. "How shall the ape be slaughtered?!" he roared.

Suggestions shot out of the crowd like a roar of thunder. Only some voices were loud enough to be distinguished among the storm of voices around them.

"Slice off its head!"

"Rip out its heart!"

"Make it bleed out!"

"Electrocution!"

"Eat it! Apes used to eat dragon flesh on the occasion!"

General Icebreath turned to Spyro, and they whispered quietly to one another, before General Icebreath cried out for the crowd to be silent. "It will be slow and painful! We will rip it to shreds, but to make sure the ape stays dead, we will cut off its head once we think the time is right!" General Icebreath announced.

The crowd of dragons seemed happy with the idea. General Icebreath waited a while before throwing Aaron to the ground, placing his paw firmly on top of him, crushing the air out of his lungs. He breathed in hoarsely, barely able to breathe. The rough scales of General Icebreath's massive paw rubbed painfully against his bloodied back, and his bloodied stomach rubbed painfully on the marble podium. Aaron groaned in pain, but his vocal chords strained to make the sound as the air continued to get pushed out of his system. Suddenly, the chain was gone from around his waist, and the pressure on his body was gone. But he was too tired to stand up.

"Spyro will be the one to execute the ape!" General Icebreath announced. "He can begin in his own time!"

The crowd began to chant. "Blood to the ape! Blood to the ape! Blood to the ape!" every dragon cried, and it was like nails on a blackboard to Aaron's ears. The chants taunted him, and he felt his breath speed up rapidly. His life flashed before his eyes. What would happen to him if he died here? Would he be dead back home, too? But no one would miss him. He was a nobody. No one would care if he died. He was ready to embrace the thought of death, of pain. He had already had his arm mauled viciously before. He didn't need to worry.

Spyro's tailblade lashed out along his back. Aaron shrieked in pain, and he felt the tailblade scrape forcefully against his spine as Spyro brought his weapon all the way down his back, from where his neck met his torso all the way down to his waist. Blood poured from the wound like a fountain, and he felt the warm liquid pour down his sides. Tears streamed from his eyes, and the world blurred in front of him. He heard Spyro chortle maniacally. The purple dragon obviously enjoyed causing pain to an innocent man.

Claws raked down his right arm. Aaron let out another pained howl. He breathed a silent wish that it would all be over quickly. It had felt like hours already. The pain was unbearable. He didn't want to see the extent of the wounds on his body, but then again, he did. He turned his head painfully, and the first thing he saw was red. Huge pools of red flooding from his body. Blood rolled down his back and his flanks, and long, bloody claw marks streaked down his right arm. Red gore pooled out from underneath him, spilling out from the wound on his stomach that General Icebreath had inflicted on him only minutes earlier. It was an ugly, horrific sight. But the dragons seemed to enjoy it.

There was a loud crack as Spyro placed his paws on Aaron's left leg and wrenched it painfully into such an awkward position that the leg snapped out of place. Aaron's scream was a high-pitched wail. He then felt claws on his broken leg, and Aaron let out another shriek, screaming incoherent words. The pain overwhelmed him. He took in a hoarse, deep breath, and coughed savagely, flecks of saliva flying from his lips. His stomach convulsed from the stench of blood.

 _Soon it'll be over._ he convinced himself in his mind. _Soon it'll be all over. I'll bleed out, on the verge of death, and Spyro will take my head off._

Aaron wanted his demise to come quickly. He couldn't bear the pain. He breathed in heavily, and let out a deafening wail that rung out among the courtyard. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT END! JUST TAKE MY HEAD AND BE DONE WITH ME!"

But Aaron knew the dragons would not be done with him that quickly. Spyro turned him over so his chest faced the savage dragon. Aaron howled in pain as his maimed back hit the cold, hard marble floor underneath him, and pressure was placed on his broken, bloody left leg as Spyro rolled him over. Spyro let out a loud roar, showing every single one of his yellow fangs, complete with a pink, fleshy throat and fetid dragon breath. "LET IT END!" Aaron screamed.

Spyro slashed his claws in an X-shape on Aaron's chest, causing more blood to stream from his body. It pooled down over his body, and mingled with the red liquid pooling out from underneath his back. Aaron was a bloody, gory mess.

Suddenly, Spyro turned and raised his tailblade high in the air, positioning it over Aaron's neck. "DO IT!" Aaron screamed hoarsely, waiting for the inevitable.

The tailblade plunged down.

"STOP!" a voice roared.

The tailblade halted mere centimetres away from Aaron's neck.

The crowd's cheers of triumph went silent. The only sound was Aaron's howls of agony. General Icebreath spoke up. "Who dares stop the execution?!" he demanded.

"It's Blazrak, you demented fools! Stop this insolence right now!" the voice ordered, and the elder flew up into the air out of the crowd and landed on the podium, turning to face Spyro and General Icebreath.

"Why are you ordering this to stop?" Spyro asked. "Don't you want this pest dead?"

"We never allowed this execution to proceed!" Blazrak scowled. "You need to have the authorisation from either us or the guardians to allow an event like this to proceed! You didn't consult any of us elders, _nor_ did you consult the guardians! This is an unauthorised execution, and is therefore illegal!"

There was silence. Blazrak looked around at the crowd angrily, before bursting into another fit of angry yelling. "Fools! The lot of you! I don't care if this is an ape or not, but you're foolish to _let_ this go on without the okay from the elders or the guardians! If we didn't know what was going on, he would have died!"

"It's an ape, Blazrak! Don't you think it _should_ die?!" General Icebreath retorted.

Blazrak rounded on him angrily. "Terrain and Volteer seem to think that this 'ape' as you call it, isn't really an ape at all! So does Cynder! I would've thought you would have taken into account Cynder's opinion, Spyro!"

"She dumped me. She never loved me. It was all a damned _lie_!" Spyro choked out savagely.

"Why do you care?! Why do you, the elder with the hottest head and with the shortest temper, suddenly decide that this ape isn't an ape?!" General Icebreath snarled.

"Because we've always made decisions _together_! That's how the role of being an elder works! You make decisions in unison for the good of Warfang! Until all of us decide that this creature _is_ an ape, _then_ it would be the right time to have this execution! Not _now_!" Blazrak roared.

A bright yellow shape swooped down and picked up Aaron in its claws, before flying off into the distance, the blood from Aaron's wounds dripping down the yellow dragon's claws. Everyone recognised the dragon's identity with a gasp. "Volteer! You foolish traitor!" General Icebreath roared, spreading open his wings to fly off in pursuit after the electric guardian.

Blazrak turned his gaze to the ice dragon, and almost immediately, General Icebreath's wings burst into roaring flames. General Icebreath fell to the ground, crying out in pain as he flapped his wings frantically to put out the fire. Blazrak turned to the crowd of dragons and spoke with authority in his voice. "Go home and return to your regular activities! Forget _any_ of this happened today!" Blazrak shouted, before turning to Spyro and General Icebreath and spoke quietly and darkly. "You will be punished for this unauthorised event."

And with that, Blazrak flew off into the sky after Volteer, and Spyro stared angrily at the silhouette of the elderly fire dragon. His breathing went heavy and his heart raced, beating like a hammer inside his chest. He knew what was coming, but this time, he didn't want to stop it. He couldn't. His anger had burst, and a frustrated roar of pure rage tore savagely from his throat.


	43. Chapter 42: Violently Broken

**One of those rare times where I decide to give you all a bonus chapter, so I hope you enjoy! This chapter, we're going to get Cynder's side of things, and to see what will happen to Aaron after Volteer and Blazrak left with him. Dark Spyro will return next chapter.**

 **I don't think many of you picked up in the last chapter when Blazrak set Icebreath's wings on fire that he simply _looked_ at Icebreath and his wings went alight. A bit of advanced fire magic there for you, and it'll return again. It was a little something that I thought would be interesting to throw in there.**

 **To 'BirmanDragon', thanks for your review, and to be honest, the chapter was slightly shorter than I wanted, too. But it is what it is, I guess, but I like it all the same. And things are going to get worse than 'extremely unstable', but I'm not sure what that would be called. Well, without spoiling anything, of course. But things are going to get a heck of a lot crazier.**

 **So, let's check in on how Aaron's doing, so enjoy.**

* * *

"Oh, hey, Cynder." Volteer said. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here. What are you doing?"

"Just walking." she said, shrugging.

"Same. So much has occurred within these past few days. I'm still endeavouring to get my head around what's going on, and I just need some time to contemplate and to have some fresh air."

Cynder nodded, mumbling in agreement. She wanted to tell Volteer about what had happened earlier with Spyro. But she thought against it. She didn't know why she did. But she wanted to keep it to herself. The memory hurt her. The screams that tore from Spyro's mouth and the hurtful words that came her way were too much to bear. She was just trying to do the right thing, but now…

"It's a bright, cheerful, positively exquisite day today, don't you agree, Cynder?" Volteer asked her, taking her from her thoughts.

"I… I guess." she replied. "But one thing I've learned is that a day might seem good, but it never turns out to be. Especially in the past week or so, given everything that's happened. The fighting, the blood, the deaths. Finding the apes again and finding out that they're not what they used to be."

"Don't reflect that way, please. What a way to destroy the moment. But… I suppose you're rather accurate, Cynder. Things have been going awry quite a lot over the past week."

Cynder muttered in agreement again, lowering her head as they walked. There was suddenly a loud cheer that rose, and Cynder and Volteer stopped in shock. "What, by the ancestors' names, was that?" Volteer asked. "What could be going on?"

An adolescent earth dragoness walked past them. "The execution is today. Everyone's gathering in the courtyard just up ahead. You'd better come. It's going to be spectacular!" she explained, walking off.

Cynder and Volteer shared a worried look. "Execution? Of whom? We never authorised this! And I don't recollect hearing the elders authorise this; I was with them all day yesterday!" Volteer exclaimed. "This is positively outrageous, irrational, unthinkable, un…!"

"Oh no! Oh crap!" Cynder interrupted. "I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?!" Volteer asked, turning on her with a worried expression.

"I was talking to Spyro this morning! He mentioned the execution!"

"And you never thought to tell me?!"

"I forgot! So much happened and I…!"

"Who is scheduled for the execution?!"

"Aaron."

Volteer took off. Cynder followed him. Her heart hammered heavily against her chest to the point where she thought it would burst out of her chest and break out from her body. The sounds around her dulled, until she heard a loud howl of agony.

"MAKE IT END! MAKE IT STOP!"

Cynder let out a cry of fear. "They're torturing him! They'll torture him fiercely, in public, before he's killed!"

Volteer whirled around and glared at Cynder. "Go! Go find Hunter and the cheetahs! I'm guessing they're nearby!" he ordered.

"Yes, they are! They're with a few foxes, too!" Cynder replied.

"Foxes?! They're still alive?! The masters of healing practises?!"

"Yes! They're just outside Warfang!"

"I'll grab Aaron, and then I'll meet you there! When you see me, let me know where you are! Fly up into the air or something! Now go! Let them know what's going on! Get the foxes to prepare healing herbs or potions or whatever the hell they use!"

Cynder turned and fled, taking to the skies to return to Hunter, Lohfur and the others. A voice sounded in her ears, and she recognised it as Lohfur. "I heard what happened. You weren't the only one who forgot – we could have stopped it." Lohfur said. "We're setting up stuff now. Get over here and help us out."

As she flew up into the sky, she heard one last voice ring throughout the streets.

"STOP!"

Strangely enough, it wasn't Volteer's voice.

* * *

Cynder looked over to Warfang for the fifth time within the two minutes she had been here. The cheetahs and foxes were frantic, unsure what the extent of Aaron's possible wounds would be. She saw two dragons rise into the air high above Warfang. She wasn't sure who the second dragon was, but she remembered the other voice that had cried out the word 'stop'. She flew up into the air and cried out, "Over here!"

She lowered herself to the ground, and watched as Volteer landed, with… Blazrak? Cynder gasped in shock as she saw the hot-headed elder beside Volteer. She wasn't expecting him to be here. "Blazrak? What's…?" she began to ask.

"Enough. Make sure he's alright." Blazrak interrupted, and Cynder's eyes turned to Aaron, and she gasped in shock, before gagging as the smell of blood reached her nostrils.

Aaron was in a horrendous state. His face bore three long claw marks, that were only slightly bloody, but the rest of his body was completely broken, covered in huge amounts of red gore. His left leg was torn into an unnatural angle, and blood streamed down the leg where another three claw marks raked down the leg. Aaron's torso was a flood of red liquid, the wounds unmeasurable as his entire body was coated in the heavy, dark blood. The sight made Cynder sick, and with the smell on top of that, she wanted to vomit. She almost did, as she suddenly remembered the last time she had seen this much blood, all those years ago. She had killed the ice dragon. The torture was too much for him. His body was broken beyond repair and his bright cyan scales had gone red, almost black with his own blood. She never got to the point of decapitation because the dragon had died of blood loss. And she had laughed.

She couldn't contain her disgust any longer. She ran off to a tree, bent down, and gagged, before throwing up all over the ground. She breathed heavily and hoarsely, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to breathe properly. She paused to puke again, before her stomach finally settled. She turned to look at Aaron again, and her heart sank.

"What in the name of Malefor happened to him?" Cynder said. She had never sworn by Malefor's name before. No one had. But she liked the feel of it. It had a bit more… vulgarity to it than swearing by the ancestors' names.

"He… He was ruthless…" Volteer stammered, a look of pure horror painted onto his face as he stared at his now red paws that had held Aaron, the human's blood poured out onto his yellow scales.

"Who? General Icebreath? I assume he was the one who did this." Cynder said.

"No. Icebreath was there just watching. Supervising. With a hideous smile on the damn fool's face." Blazrak replied, shocking Cynder with the use of General Icebreath's name without his title.

"Then who did this to him?" Hunter piped up, his voice shaking with horror.

Volteer tried to answer, putting his jaws together as he hissed through his clenched teeth, but he never got the word out as he stammered for a few seconds, before giving up and turning his head away. Blazrak answered for him.

"Spyro."

Cynder couldn't express how she felt in words. Her look said it all. A pure expression of horror and hatred for the one she once loved. How could he have done this? Spyro was pure and loving, kind and caring. He would never do this to someone! She had never seen him do this much damage to anyone in his right mind. She remembered how Spyro annihilated Gaul back in the Well of Souls, but remembered that he was Dark Spyro then. He was completely himself now.

And he had done this.

He had come so close to murdering Aaron.

"Red gems! I need red gems! _Lots_ of them!" Lohfur cried, his voice tearing through her thoughts.

"I'll get some!" one of the foxes said, and ran off in search for red health gems.

"What? But red gems only work on dragons." Blazrak said.

"You'll be surprised." Hunter replied with a grin.

"I need water!" Lohfur said.

"I'll grab some!" Volteer said, and flew off.

"What do I do?" Cynder asked. "I want to help!"

"You can help by staying here by Aaron's side. If he wakes up, he'll be in a world of pain." Lohfur replied. "And… fire dragon, whatever your name is, stay by Cynder please. I need you to make sure she doesn't freak out any more like she did earlier. If I need help from either of you, I'll let you know."

Blazrak just nodded, not seeming to care that he was referred to as simply 'fire dragon'. They waited for about five minutes before the fox returned with a stack of red gems in his arms. He had even stuck some in his tunic. "Good. Start cutting holes in them, like we practised years ago." Lohfur ordered. "Hunter, Ulfitz, Horilith, can you help, too? Your arrows should be sharp enough to chip holes in them."

All of the foxes and cheetahs began to work on cutting holes into each of the red gems that the fox had returned with. Lohfur had cut through about three crystals before Volteer returned with a large metal bucket filled with water. "Alright, I need you to pour very small amounts of water on Aaron's body to wash away the blood so I can see what I'm doing. Be gentle." Lohfur said.

Volteer slowly tipped the bucket over, allowing a small trickle of water to spill down onto Aaron's wounds, washing off the blood, staining the grass red as the blood washed down the sides of the human's body and onto the once green grass underneath him. Lohfur quickly ordered Volteer to stop, and he did. Without the thick layer of blood, the wounds were clear as clear could be. Each wound was hideous, exposing bone and gruesomely torn flesh. Blood quickly seeped out of the wounds, coating the deep wounds with red once again. Lohfur rolled Aaron over and told Volteer to wash the other side of Aaron's body, which was smeared with red blood.

"Alright, I need a fire. I don't care how big it is." Lohfur said, turning to Blazrak. "Can I get a bit of assistance?"

Without turning or opening his maw, a medium-sized tree burst into flames behind Blazrak. He motioned behind him with a nod of his head, before looking back at Cynder, who was breathing hysterically.

"Gems! Are any gems ready?!" Lohfur called to the foxes and cheetahs working on cutting holes in the red gems.

"The pile here's all ready to go." a fox said, pointing to a pile of red gems that each had holes in them.

"Alright, Hunter. Stop for now. I need you to grab some red gems and take them to Volteer. Volteer, I want you to fill each hole with water. Hunter, then take the gems to the fire and let them sit there for a while. You remember what I did." Lohfur ordered. "Everyone else, stop for now. This looks like enough red gems."

Hunter stood up and started taking chunks of red gems to Volteer, who poured water into the holes. Hunter then ran off and sat them in the fire, before grabbing another gem, and they repeated the process.

"Thanks, that should be enough." Lohfur said after a while. "Bring the gems here."

Hunter, Ulfitz and Horilith brought back some of the gems from the fire, and gave them to Lohfur. Lohfur swirled the water around in each gem, before pouring the glowing red water into Aaron's hideous wounds, each gem going black as their energy was poured out of them. Lohfur worked around Aaron's chest first. The cut around his stomach was worked on, before the X-shaped cuts on his chest. Then the magic started to happen. The wounds began to close in on themselves, before they left nothing but scars. The scars were huge and hideous, however, but the wounds had closed. Lohfur rolled Aaron over onto his belly, working on his back next. After he did his work, the wounds closed, leaving the same massive scars on his back. Lohfur then poured the remaining red water from the gems onto Aaron's leg, before he snapped it back into place and let it heal.

"Pour the rest of the water onto Aaron to clean off the blood." Lohfur said. "Gently."

Volteer poured the rest of the water onto Aaron as he was told, gently, and the blood that remained from when the horrible wounds were open was washed away. And then with a groan, Aaron began to stir.

He opened his eyes and hissed through gritted teeth. "How are you feeling?" Cynder asked, her voice hollow and croaky, the sight of his broken, bloodied form still fresh in her mind.

"Slightly better." Aaron croaked hoarsely, sitting up slowly. "I think I'll be fine. Maybe. That hurt like hell."


	44. Chapter 43: Darkness

**Finally! I've waited so long to get to this moment in the story. Dark Spyro's here, and nothing good is going to come out of it. Also, I'm not sure if anyone's picked it up, but Dark Spyro has actually been teased since Chapter 6. Remember before Aaron left Warfang after his escape how Aaron had that nightmare where Dark Spyro became self-aware inside _The Eternal Night_? *waiting for gasps of realisation from the audience***

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', when I mentioned the dragons going into the human world, that was an idea I had for a possible sequel to this fanfiction, but like I said earlier, the sequel will almost definitely not be happening. Like 99% not happening. Extremely unlikely. I was playing around with a few ideas, but they're not really good enough to actually make something out of, and I'm unsure how I want to achieve the ideas I came up with, unlike _Broken Perceptions_. I may change my mind later down the track on the sequel, but it'll probably be a _long_ time before I ever make a sequel, if ever.**

 **And in response to 'BirmanDragon', I agree, 'Violently Broken' was a terrible name for that chapter. I suck at chapter names. I had no other ideas, and I had about five other names before I gave up and settled on 'Violently Broken'. Kind of ironic how I can write pretty well, but chapter names turn out terrible and unoriginal. This chapter name's pretty terrible, too. Ugh.**

 **Well, onto the chapter, where things go way out of control. I love these next few chapters. Chapter 46 is by far my favourite, however, and it will forever be one of the chapters I am very proud of.**

* * *

A loud, yet distant roar reached their ears. It was deep and distorted. Cynder knew that roar from anywhere. It haunted her dreams and her memories. Whenever she would think of Ignitus, her mind kept straying to his death, and evidently, that distorted roar of anguish and rage. Whenever she would think of that night – the Night of Eternal Darkness – her thoughts would return to the horrifying black dragon that had come from that blinding beam of convexity, vicious white eyes intent on bloodshed. She knew what had happened, and fear struck her to the core, and she began shaking uncontrollably. "No. No!" she cried, tears streaming from her eyes.

"What is it? What was that?" Volteer asked.

"The darkness… the darkness has taken control!" Cynder stammered.

"You can't be serious!" Aaron shouted, standing up.

"What did it sound like to you?!" Cynder screamed, whirling on him, not even processing how Aaron could possibly know about Spyro's darkness.

Aaron hesitated. The roar came again. "It is him… it's frickin' Dark Spyro…" Aaron stammered.

"Dark Spyro?! What in the…? Can someone _please_ fill us in?!" Blazrak demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough! If he's still in the courtyard, he'll kill everyone there!" Cynder shouted, taking to the skies.

Volteer scowled and flew after her. Blazrak hesitated. "What is going on?!" he roared.

"Long story short, Spyro was corrupted on the Night of Eternal Darkness about five years ago and the dark magic hasn't left him, and if he loses control of his negative emotions, Dark Spyro breaks free. That good enough for you?" Aaron snapped, surprising Blazrak with the speed of which Aaron spoke.

Blazrak stared at Aaron with shock. The roar sounded again. Blazrak turned and flew into the air, speeding off after Cynder and Volteer, a look of anxiety on his face. Aaron turned to the cheetahs and foxes. "We need some way to neutralise him. We'll need to make use of our weapons." Aaron said, reaching for his bow, but his hand reached thin air. He then realised his quiver wasn't on his back as well. Then he remembered what had happened yesterday. He swore. "My weapons are still in my damn prison cell… I'm actually surprised they never took them off me, but that's where they are."

"Take us there!" Hunter said. "We'll need your help. You, apart from Cynder, seem to be the only one that knows about this 'Dark Spyro' creature that's taken a hold on Spyro."

"We'll need to be quick and stealthy. We need to get in and out without being seen." Aaron said.

"Lucky for us, you cheetahs have always been good at that sort of thing. Let's go! We've got no time to waste!" Lohfur said, and they all ran towards Warfang.

* * *

"Spyro? Are you alright?" General Icebreath asked, his face falling as the bright amethyst scales Spyro disappeared in thick, black energy.

Spyro turned his head slowly, and blinding white, pupil-less eyes stared at him. General Icebreath froze in fear. He looked around him. Every dragon in the courtyard had done the same. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. The silence was unnerving, and it hammered against General Icebreath's ears like an earth missile.

General Icebreath needed to do something, and fast. He lifted his left forepaw, which shook with fear as it hovered in the air. He placed it down softly on the ground in front of him, taking a small step, and Spyro roared loudly, spreading his wings out threateningly. The roar was deep and distorted, and was extremely deafening. It struck fear into General Icebreath, and he flinched, his breath hard and ragged. He hadn't felt fear since he was a child. But the fear he had felt as a child was nothing compared to this. Back then, he had been scared of the opinions of other dragons, _bullies_ , and what they would do to him, given that he had been beaten up once or twice when he was younger. But this was different. Way different. Spyro was completely gone; a demonic creature had taken his place, and General Icebreath was _petrified_.

"Spyro, talk to me. What's wrong?" General Icebreath asked, his voice shaking, as were his knees.

Spyro chuckled deeply, and spoke, deep, malicious tones underlying his regular voice, which echoed around him. "You're scared of me, aren't you, General?" he asked, grinning evilly, his voice soft and oddly soothing. General Icebreath still shook with fear, and he couldn't hide his fear like he tried so very hard to.

"I'm not scared. I'm not scared of anything." General Icebreath replied. His wide eyes and his shaking voice and knees betrayed his words.

"I'm not too sure you know exactly what you feel." Spyro chuckled. "You _are_ scared. You're _more_ than scared. I _see_ it in your eyes, in your stance. I _hear_ it in your voice. I _sense_ it in your soul."

"I'll fight you if I have to, Spyro. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'd redirect your last sentence back to you, Icebreath. So, don't do anything stupid. You have _no idea_ what I'm capable of!"

To prove his point, he lunged at General Icebreath and knocked him off the tall podium they stood on with his horns. General Icebreath fell to the ground, screaming with fear. He landed hard, hearing a loud snap, and cried out in pain as he realised his right foreleg was broken. Dragons started to back out of the courtyard slowly, until it was only half as full as it had been. Spyro let out a roar, long strings of saliva hanging from his jaws, and General Icebreath's breathing went hard and hoarse, the heavy breaths wracking his body. He looked to Spyro with fear, and he felt smaller than he had ever felt. His flanks convulsed with every breath, and he felt an unsavoury emotion that he hadn't felt in years. Anxiety. It crippled him.

Spyro laughed loudly as he stood over General Icebreath. The smile he wore was hideously evil, unlike anything General Icebreath had ever seen, and it was plastered to his face permanently. The sound of Spyro's laughter hammered against General Icebreath's ears, and he felt tears prick his eyes. Spyro leapt from the podium, and began to close in on him, walking in a hideously slow and playful fashion. " _I_ was the one who rid this world of Gaul. _I_ killed him. I _murdered_ him! I impaled his chest with a beam of pure convexity, something unlike anything you have ever seen!" the demon looming over General Icebreath scowled. "Given what I just did to that _human_ , I'd gather I could make your death the whole lot _more_ painful!"

"So you admit that you knew!" another voice cried out. Feminine.

General Icebreath looked up and saw Cynder standing on top of a large building around the courtyard. Spyro reared his head and laughed darkly. "Spyro's a dumb creature without a brain who can't control his emotions. _I_ knew the whole time, of course, but _Spyro_ believed otherwise, and he let himself succumb to his own fear, his own anxiety, his own stress. You 'dumping him', as he liked to call it, brought him to breaking point, and after this pitiful execution failed, he fell apart in a miserable heap of emotions." Spyro roared, pausing to burst into hideous laughter. "I'm _free_ , Cynder! I'm _free_ to do _whatever I want_! And you _can't_ stop me this time!"

"I _will_! Evil will never prevail! I should know! Spyro rescued me from the darkness that controlled me! After that, the hold darkness had over me ceased to exist! And then we both beat Malefor!" Cynder retorted. "The greatest being of darkness this world has ever known was destroyed by Spyro and I!"

"And what about _Gaul_? What's your opinion of the demise of that repulsive, _bloody_ ape king?"

"That was a battle between two dark vessels! Good never had a say in the battle!"

Spyro laughed, the sound painful to General Icebreath's ears, as he realised that Spyro was suddenly standing right in front of him. "Help me!" he croaked to Cynder. "Help me, please!"

General Icebreath suddenly howled in pain as Spyro brought sharp claws down on his left forepaw. His claws were much sharper now, General Icebreath realised, and he felt warm, sticky blood seep from his paw. General Icebreath looked back up to Cynder, tears in his eyes. Cynder's eyes were unreadable, mainly from the height of the building she was standing on, and how far away she was, but also because of how badly he had mistreated her in the past few days. The events of those past few days flashed before his eyes, and he immediately regretted every single decision he had made, every single hurtful word he had said to her. In a desperate howl, General Icebreath pleaded for Cynder's help. "I'm sorry, Cynder! I'm sorry for everything! Just get him off me! Help me!" he cried, his every scream filled with fear unlike anything he had ever felt. Spyro chuckled maliciously at the sheer terror in General Icebreath's pleas. "He's going to kill me! He'll _kill_ me! _Help me_!"

Spyro opened his maw and released a beam of bright purple energy at the ground in front of General Icebreath's face, the light blinding him temporary and the heat from the beam of convexity threatening to burn through his face. General Icebreath howled in pain. It was a warning shot, but incredibly close to causing some real damage. The beam seemed to last forever; Spyro was unrelenting, intent on blinding him before breaking his body.

Cynder's voice tore through the moment, and Spyro closed his mouth. "ENOUGH!" she shouted. "If you want a fight, you're going to have to fight _me_!"

"Gladly." Spyro snickered, before taking to the skies in a heartbeat, launching himself at Cynder.

General Icebreath lost sight of Spyro and Cynder as his vision began to blur with tears. The sounds were horrific. Deep, demonic growls tore from Spyro's throat as he fought, and General Icebreath blamed himself for fuelling this madness. He had been a bad influence on Spyro in the past few days, making him resort to violence and anger. That had ultimately caused him to lose control of the darkness inside him, and now, dubbed as Dark Spyro, he was free to cause fear and pain to anyone he wanted, in any way he wanted. It was terrifying.

General Icebreath faintly caught Cyril's voice in amongst the sounds of battle. "Icebreath! Brother!" Cyril screamed, and a hazy cyan figure appeared in front of him.

"Cyril! Help me!" General Icebreath cried.

"I'll get some red gems!"

"Stay here with me, brother! Please! I'm scared!"

General Icebreath was suddenly taken back to his younger years. He was a bloodied, beaten-up fourteen-year-old ice dragon, being comforted by Cyril, who was twenty-one at the time. _Don't leave me, Cyril!_ his younger voice echoed in his head. _I'm scared! I don't want anyone else to beat me!_

 _You'll be fine._ Cyril had told him. _I'm right here._

"Alright, I'll stay." came the voice of Cyril from the present. "You're going to be fine, brother. I'm right beside you."

Cyril's voice betrayed his courage. He was scared, too. General Icebreath couldn't remember the last time Cyril had been scared. Then he remembered the near destruction of the world two years ago. Cyril had been hysterical. To be honest, he had been scared as well, but he managed to hide his fear. That had been the first time he had ever comforted his older brother. Cyril had been more closely involved with Malefor, General Icebreath remembered. That was probably why Cyril was scared. Because they had sent mere sixteen-year-old dragons to fight the Dark Master, and Cyril _knew_ of the danger that Malefor posed not only to Spyro and Cynder, but to the whole world, as it began to tear apart in front of their eyes. Dark Spyro was probably bringing back memories of Malefor to Cyril, being the malicious creature of darkness that he was.

"Cyril!" Volteer's voice reached his ears. He turned his head and saw Volteer and Blazrak landing in the distance of the courtyard, which had been emptied almost completely now, apart from a few wounded dragons that had fallen victim to a few stray beams of convexity from Dark Spyro. One of the dragons lay dead, his heart impaled like Gaul's had been, according to Dark Spyro.

"Volteer!" Cyril cried. "Grab some red gems! Please!"

General Icebreath saw Volteer look at him, who gasped when he saw his bloodied forepaw and his broken foreleg. Volteer turned and flew off, in search of red gems, General Icebreath hoped. Blazrak walked forward. "The time for scolding will come later." he simply said. "We need to move you, now."

Blazrak ducked as a purple beam of convexity shot down over his head. He looked over to Cyril. "We need to carry him. Get him onto your back. When you're ready, I'll come over and we can share the weight." the elder ordered.

"Are you sure you're alright to do this?" Cyril asked.

"I may be old, but I'm still strong!" Blazrak snapped. "Get him onto your back, now! Or we'll all be in the same spot as Icebreath!"

General Icebreath couldn't care about his name being used without his title. He was wounded, in trouble, and overcome by fear. He suddenly felt Cyril work his way underneath him, and he was lifted off the ground, and he cried out in pain as his broken leg was moved. Blazrak walked close to Cyril and Cyril let General Icebreath's body slide sideways onto Blazrak, and they began to walk slowly to safety.

 _Stay safe, Cynder!_ he thought as he turned and saw Cynder fighting Dark Spyro in mid-air. He closed his eyes, and he fell unconscious.

* * *

They ran frantically down the streets of Warfang towards the prison. Every street was flooded with panicked, hysterical dragons. Aaron knew they couldn't care less about him being there; they didn't even seem to know he was there. He knew the real reason behind their panic: Dark Spyro.

The sky had gone black with thick, dark clouds, and the roars from Dark Spyro echoed throughout Warfang. Purple flashes lit up the sky as beams of convexity flew in every which direction. Aaron hoped the dragons were alright. For the first time in the eight days he had been involved in this battle with the dragons, he pitied _every_ _single one_ of them. However, he realised as they ran up towards the Warfang prison that the dragons in there would still see him as a threat, oblivious to the commotion going outside of the prison. Aaron swore under his breath before continuing on with the cheetahs and foxes that surrounded him.

Hunter shouted out to Ulfitz, Horilith, Lohfur and the other foxes as they entered the prison. "Stay close to Aaron! If any dragon attacks him or us, don't hesitate to attack them back! In the prison, they're _all_ our enemies!"

"Understood." Lohfur said.

The drawbridge had been left open, and they ran straight into the prison. For a moment, the dragon guards inside were confused, but immediately realised what was going on as they saw Aaron in amongst his furry allies surrounding him. "The ape! Kill the ape!" one of the dragons shouted.

"Take us to your cell, quickly!" Hunter whispered to Aaron, and Aaron sped up the pace.

Arrows began to fly through the air as the dragons attacked them. Dragons let out shocked gasps as they saw first-paw that the cheetahs truly had sided with 'the ape'.

Aaron suddenly spotted a few droplets of blood on the ground. He remembered how General Icebreath had slashed his claws across his stomach before the execution. The blood had dribbled down his torso and onto the ground. He followed the trail of his own blood on the ground to his cell. The door was still open, and he ran inside and grabbed his arrow and quiver.

Dragons shouted from around them. "Lock it in!" they cried. "Don't let it escape!"

Hunter shot a dragon between the eyes and scowled. "There's a lot more at stake here than Aaron! Your lives are in danger!" he shouted.

"Yeah, now that the ape has a weapon!" an earth dragon spat.

"And I don't plan on using it against you." Aaron replied. "Let's go!"

He and his furry allies turned and ran, leaving the prison, the guards staring at the open drawbridge with disbelief at what had just happened.

* * *

Cynder was thrown to the ground. She landed on her stomach, letting a groan escape her throat as air was forced out of her lungs. She immediately recovered and rolled out of the way as Dark Spyro landed where she once was. He scowled, fangs bared and sinister white eyes gleaming with rage. Cynder let out a shriek in the form of a siren scream, sending red sound waves hurtling towards Dark Spyro. He reared, roaring with pain. Cynder stood up, preparing herself for the demonic dragon's next attack. But she suddenly realised that she had made a mistake by using her fear element. Dark Spyro _fed_ off Spyro's negative emotions, _including_ fear. If she used her fear element, it'd only fuel Dark Spyro's energy even more. She swore, using one of Aaron's violent curses for the first time, before Dark Spyro let out a deep, throaty roar that brought fear through her core. Strings of saliva hung from his jaws, and his white eyes shone even brighter, blinding Cynder for a moment. She had to close her eyes and turn her head because the light was too much for her.

Suddenly, she felt insanely sharp claws grab her, and she was yanked off the ground. She opened her eyes and saw Dark Spyro holding her, his claws digging into her flesh. He whirled his body around and threw Cynder downwards. She hurtled towards a large building, screaming. It hit her faster than she could react, and there was a resounding crack as some of the stone bricks in the wall broke apart, and rubble fell to the ground, followed by Cynder. Her right foreleg was bleeding from the impact, but she was still all fine. She took to the air quickly, only just escaping a beam of convexity that slammed into where she had been, and a huge explosion rocked the ground.

She collided with Dark Spyro with a roar and dug her outstretched claws into his flesh, before bringing her jaws down around his neck. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Dark Spyro let out a roar before twisting his body around, biting Cynder's right shoulder, causing her to shout in pain and let go of his neck. He twisted around again, letting go of Cynder's shoulder, and bit down around her neck, locking her in the same hold she once had on him. Cynder let out a strangled cry of fear and pain, feeling her blood stream from the wound, before she was swung around in a full circle by her neck, and thrown to the ground once again. But this time, Dark Spyro dived after her, and pinned her to the ground as soon as she hit the marble podium that was stained with spots of Aaron's blood. The demonic dragon chuckled. "How _ironic_ that you landed on the podium that the human was to be executed on. Maybe _you_ could take the human's place in this execution!" Dark Spyro snarled playfully. "I will not leave without coming out victorious with a murder!"

"Come back to me, Spyro! I know you're in there!" Cynder pleaded, her voice slightly croaky as she recovered from the impact, spitting blood from her mouth.

"That purple nuisance is _gone_ , Cynder!" Dark Spyro replied with a sneer. "And you can't bring him back! I will stay here until that whelp starts fighting! Only if he reigns victorious over me in a battle for this vessel of flesh and blood will I leave! If not, then I stay! And I will kill as many as I want! And I will make sure I take some lives before I am forced to go, if that will ever happen!"

Dark Spyro thrust his muzzle down, biting down hard around Cynder's neck. He even dug his claws into her chest, and she feared his claws were getting dangerously close to her heart as she felt a claw scrape painfully against one of her ribs. Suddenly her chest was the least of her thoughts when she realised Dark Spyro was starting to twist his head around. He was trying to snap her neck! Cynder tried to kick out, but Dark Spyro had a firm hold, and even when she flashed her claws across Dark Spyro's chest, he made no sign of showing pain or letting go.

In a final attempt to break free, Cynder did the one thing she thought of doing. She howled in a final attempt to attract attention from the guardians or elders for help. And she howled loud and long, amplifying her cries with her fear element, careful not to inflict any of her fear into Spyro's system. She thrashed about, but it was only causing her more pain as Dark Spyro continued to twist his head around, more violently now. She could feel her neck giving way, and she feared it would not hold any longer. She was going to die.

"HEY!" came a voice. Cynder knew that voice all too well.

 _Aaron._

"I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! COME AND GET ME!" Aaron yelled.

Dark Spyro reluctantly let go of Cynder, her blood fresh on his lips, dripping down from his jaws and splattering down on top of Cynder. Dark Spyro smiled evilly, revealing reddened fangs. "If it's a death wish you want, you fool, it's a death wish you'll get!" Dark Spyro snarled, and his muscles tensed, ready to spring.

"Run!" Cynder croaked.

Aaron swore violently, turning and running off, before Dark Spyro disappeared from the podium, and subsequently, her view, as he ran off after Aaron. _Dear ancestors,_ Cynder prayed. _Keep him safe._

She fell unconscious.


	45. Chapter 44: Shock

**A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but this one focuses entirely on Icebreath. I'm proud of this one, too. Last chapter was way better, but this chapter's still really good.**

 **To 'BirmanDragon', I listened to _Forsaken Pygmy_ as you suggested, and I am in love with it. It's beautiful. You're right, it does work a lot with last chapter. Also, Dark Spyro's unrelenting violent nature gets much worse than what you saw last chapter. So what he did to Cynder is not the worst of the characters' worries.**

 **And to 'Derick Lindsey', I'm glad you're looking forward to the next few chapters. They're really good, but my 'darker fic' is much better. And much worse. I think you'll like it. But it is much gorier, much darker, and much more violent. There's more action sequences in it than _Broken Perceptions_ , and it'll be much longer. I'm almost about to write Chapter 34, and I'm barely half-way through what I have planned for the story. So it's going to be much longer than this one.**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Are you alright?" Volteer asked.

General Icebreath just nodded, sighing with relief as he felt his leg readjust and the bone reform as the red gems were absorbed into his body. Blood stopped pouring from his wounded paw, and the wounds closed. He was still too scared to speak, however. In all his years, he had never seen anything like the horrors he had just witnessed. He had never seen dark magic before, and it frightened him. Sure, he had fought and dealt with the dark army many times before, but he had never experienced the magic of the dark side. He hadn't had anything to do with Malefor or Gaul directly, unlike the guardians. And he'd always assumed that Cynder was a being composed completely of darkness, not a being _tainted_ by dark magic. He only believed the guardians because they were higher than him, even though it was only half-heartedly. Now, after witnessing dark magic just now, after _fuelling_ the darkness to take control of Spyro, he believed otherwise about Cynder. She was pure, and had a good heart. And he hated himself. For the things he'd said to Cynder, and for influencing the horrors that were occurring.

"Have I… Have I been a bad influence?" General Icebreath asked with a stammer.

"No!" Cyril quickly jumped to General Icebreath's defence. "Why?"

"Have I been a bad influence _on Spyro_? I _know_ he's not normally this violent and angry, and I personally feel like _I_ fuelled the darkness inside him to bubble to the surface." General Icebreath clarified.

"No. That was the ape's fault." Cyril replied with a scowl. "How _dare_ you blame yourself for that primate's actions?

"Don't you see, brother?! That 'ape' might not be what we thought it was! It could be a… a 'human'. Like Cynder was trying to tell us. What if _we_ were wrong, and we were worrying over _nothing_?"

General Icebreath looked around. Volteer had a shocked expression on his face, and Cyril's face bore a look of betrayal. Blazrak was expressionless. "What in the…? What the _hell_ makes you say that?!" Cyril exclaimed.

"What Dark Spyro said earlier." General Icebreath said, but before he could continue, he was interrupted by Blazrak.

"Dark Spyro is a creature of pure darkness. He speaks lies. You shouldn't trust him." Blazrak said darkly.

"But he said he _knew_!" General Icebreath retorted. "He said he _knew_ about the… the human. What if he's right? And what if we were as dumb as he said _Spyro_ was? That we were too blind to see the truth, and we let our fear control us? And it's _my_ fault for only showing Spyro violence and anger, and his fear turned into rage and aggression, before it turned into pure evil."

"It's not your fault." Volteer said.

"It _is_!" General Icebreath felt tears slipping down his cheeks, his flanks convulsing with every shaking breath. He couldn't care less about how pitiful he looked now. He felt as if his world was ending. "It is _entirely_ my fault! _I_ fuelled all of this! _I_ fuelled this _madness_! And now Dark Spyro's on the loose, and everyone's in danger!"

General Icebreath burst into tears for the first time in two hundred years. It was an ugly sight as he sobbed pitifully, whimpering uncontrollably and struggling to breathe. Cyril was flustered, unsure what to do, having not seen his brother cry in two centuries. General Icebreath heard footsteps, and looked up with teary eyes as Blazrak walked towards him, an unreadable expression on his face. "The blood Dark Spyro shed and will shed is _not_ on your paws, Icebreath. But you _have_ played a role in bringing Dark Spyro to the surface. We all learn our lessons at some points in our lives, sometimes the hard way, and this has been no different for you. For everyone here. I think it's time we treat this… Aaron… like an ally. After all, Dark Spyro poses a danger not to just him, but to all of Warfang. Even if we decide to continue to hate on him later, we need to put our differences aside _now_ or someone will get hurt. Killed even." Blazrak said.

General Icebreath nodded, sniffling and wiping his wet eyes. "Let's go find him." he said, standing up.

"What?! Are you seriously listening to this old fraud who thinks he knows that this ape isn't really an ape?! You're as dense as Cynder and Volteer!" Cyril scowled with a shocked chuckle, only to be stricken with lightning fast claws from Blazrak.

"Have you not learned from your foolish brother's lesson, Cyril Isendrag?! I expect _better_ from you! You're a guardian, and you'd better start acting like one. You're acting like a child. No better, a _bully_. To think that after everything you've fought for in your younger brother's life, that you would start insulting him in a fashion similar to those who put him down in his childhood." Blazrak scolded menacingly. "You're a disgrace to the title of 'guardian', Cyril."

A scream tore through the air. High pitched, and a voice that was familiar to General Icebreath's ears. He had heard the same scream before. But where? He searched his memories. He suddenly heard voices from several years ago tear through his mind, and he realised with shock who the scream belonged to.

 _Help me, Icebreath! She'll kill me! The Terror will kill me!_

 _I won't let her, Voette! You'll be safe with me!_

Voette. His mate, his beloved.

She was in trouble. And chances were, his daughter Frost was as well.

General Icebreath ran off towards the sound, fear gripping his chest. "Where are you going?!" Cyril cried.

"That was _Voette's_ scream!" he shouted before he ran out of earshot.

He heard Cyril gasp and run off after him. He was sure Volteer was following as well. He wasn't sure about Blazrak. He was old and wasn't too suited to this thing as much as he once was. He turned his head and saw Blazrak behind him, and he frowned. He had assumed wrong again. _Stop assuming!_ he scolded himself mentally. _Look where that got you with Aaron!_

There was another scream from Voette, followed by Dark Spyro's roaring. A more masculine cry came, weaker than the others. A weaker set of lungs. Aaron, possibly? _No. I'm not assuming. I'm not assuming anymore._ he thought with a snarl.

He came to a stop when he saw a fox hunched over Voette, with Frost standing next to them, clueless to what was happening, but sobbing uncontrollably with fear. General Icebreath took one look at his mate, and his heart tore in two as he realised she was dead. Murdered. Her mouth was open in an unfinished scream, and blood rolled down her neck and stomach in excessive amounts. Voette's wings were torn in two, and her left foreleg had been bitten off, by the looks of the ragged marks in her flesh. The foreleg lay on the ground several metres to General Icebreath's left, blood pouring like a flood out of the disembodied limb. His eyes wandered back to Voette, and he stared into her eyes.

Her eyes stared sightlessly back at him.

A tear slipped down his cheek. Then another. Dark Spyro had done it. He had murdered someone. And he had murdered her. His beloved. Voette.

"Daddy?" his daughter's fearful voice cut through the air. "Is Mummy alright?"

He heard Cyril gasp behind him. General Icebreath didn't know what to say. His heart broke as his mate lay lifeless in front of him, murdered by Dark Spyro, and his daughter stood metres away from the corpse, horrified, but clueless as to what had happened. "She's…" he murmured, not wanting to scare Frost any more than she was. "She's not coming back. She's dead."

"What does that mean?" Frost asked.

General Icebreath blinked tears from his eyes and swallowed a lump in his throat, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. "She's gone. She's left this world to join the ancestors."

"Didn't she love me? She said she'd protect me. She said she'd be here for me! Why isn't she coming back?!"

"Your mother loved you very much." General Icebreath walked towards his daughter, sitting down in front of her and nuzzling her. "It was just her time to leave."

"Where's Dark Spyro?" Blazrak asked the fox.

"He ran off that way after Aaron." the fox replied, pointing down a street.

"Thank you. Icebreath? Do you want to go?" Blazrak asked.

General Icebreath turned towards the fox. The fox's paws were covered with Voette's blood. _Trying to save her._ he realised.

"Can I trust you to protect my daughter?" General Icebreath asked the fox.

"With my life." the fox replied with a nod, walking towards Frost.

 _Like Voette._ General Icebreath thought, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Thanks." he said, standing up. "Let's go."

* * *

 **And someone's dead already. Icebreath's mate, to make it worse. His family weren't in the story just for a bit of extra stuff; I've had Voette's death planned since the start. Anyway see you later with the next chapter, where things get much worse.**


	46. Chapter 45: Alliance

**Well, I'm sad to say that this action sequence is almost over. There's one chapter left after this one, before we go to see the aftermath of this chaos. But enjoy the action while you can. I did a pretty good job with this chapter, if I do say so myself, but the best chapter is the next one. In my opinion, that is. I'm also really happy with Chapter 53 as well; it's probably my second favourite chapter.**

 **To 'BirmanDragon', the first few chapters seeming 'cliché copy-paste story' is kind of unintentional; I thought they were good back when I wrote them in March and April last year, but I do agree in that the first chapters are kind of bad. But writing these fanfics have helped me improve writing and story-telling over the time I've been working on them, ever since the first _Five Nights at Freddy's_ one I wrote (which was actually the second in the six-part series; I wrote them really out of order). I also got much better at trying to think up different ways the story can go, and picking the best, more surprising way when I get to writing it. Most of the chapters in my other _Spyro_ fanfic had about four or five different versions I had before picking out the best one (the chapter I just wrote had about seven different ways I could have played with it to get to where I wanted, but as I kept writing, more different ways came up, and I kind of struggled with it).**

 **And to 'Derick Lindsey', as I said to the review you posted back in Chapter 10, I actually forgot about Sparx by the time I was up to writing this action sequence. But I managed to incorporate him into the story, so he's in here (he actually comes in during this chapter). At first, his existence may seem short and tiny, but he has a much bigger role to play. His major scenes are in Chapters 50 and 53, and he does have a lot of importance in those chapters, _especially_ Chapter 53. I'm not going to spoil anything more for you, so that's all I can say. And there's about eleven chapters left after this one, so we're on the closing streak.**

 **In response to 'UNNES1000', I do have a few more plot twists up my sleeve for the next few chapters (but only a few, as like I said, we're on the closing streak to _Broken Perceptions_ ). I think you may enjoy them.**

 **I'm glad you're all enjoying this story; it's gotten a lot more attention than I thought it would, so thank you everyone. It's almost at 25K views, which is a crazy big number. I only wish I had that many people viewing my YouTube videos… *play _Mad World_ by Gary Jules* But all jokes aside, I'm amazed by how many people are enjoying this, so thank you. I hope after this finishes, that you all stick around for the next _Spyro_ fanfiction I'm writing, which is a heck of a lot better than this one. But all that out of the way, let's go onto the story!**

* * *

Aaron turned and shot another arrow at Dark Spyro. It landed just underneath the left side of his jaw, and Dark Spyro let out a deep growl of savage aggression, and didn't stop chasing after him. Aaron was still shocked with what had just happened in the past few minutes. Within being chased by Dark Spyro, he had somehow been separated from Hunter, Ulfitz, Horilith, Lohfur, and two of the three foxes Lohfur brought with him. One of them had managed to keep up with Aaron. But then Dark Spyro had run into a yellow dragoness. She was prepared to fight him, to protect her daughter from the beast. Dark Spyro blamed the dragoness for getting in his way, and he murdered her. Brutally. In front of the eyes of the daughter. Aaron had to distract the demonic dragon before he did any more damage, but the dragoness had already been killed. The fox had left to try and calm down the weeping child who was cowering in fear the last he saw her. He had made his escape quickly, and was being chased by the demon that he had once thought was a cool character in the world of technology, but now he was real and out to kill him, and Aaron was legitimately afraid of the creature. Dark Spyro was out for blood. His blood. And yet he had still killed a dragoness.

He heard Dark Spyro inhale deeply, and he dived forward into a roll as a scorching beam of convexity shot over him. He let out a cry and scrambled to his feet clumsily, continuing to run. He almost ran into several dragons that were beginning to panic upon seeing Dark Spyro. He turned a sharp corner, and Dark Spyro slid forward, trying to stop. Aaron kept running, wanting to get out of Dark Spyro's way. He knew the dark dragon would find him again. It was inevitable. But he needed a break. His head throbbed, and his knees ached.

And yet he still ran. It was more of a speedy jog than a full-on sprint, but he continued to run. He looked back behind him to see if Dark Spyro was still behind him, which he wasn't. When he turned back around to look in front of him, he saw a bright golden light in front of him. Aaron screeched to a halt, and gasped when he saw someone that he never expected to see in amongst all this mess.

"Sparx?" he asked.

"Aah!" the golden dragonfly exclaimed, flinching. "How does big… furless… weird-looking ape with a bow know my name?!"

"Long story, Sparx. But look, you need to get out of here."

"I just want to see my brother again! I haven't seen him in two years! I should be able to visit to see him!"

"Trust me, you _don't_ want to see Spyro right now."

"Stop telling me what to do! You're just an ape! I won't be ordered around by an ape! If Spyro were here, he'd kick your… furless… behind… clothed in... You know, you're weird for an ape."

"I know, and right now he wants to do _more_ than kick my furless behind! And for the record, they're called _pants_!"

A deep, distorted roar sounded from behind him. Aaron swore, and Sparx let out a scream of fear, wrapping his arms around himself in a pitiful hug. "Sparx, you need to go. _Now_!" he ordered.

"Not until you tell me what that was!" Sparx retorted, trying to make his shaky voice sound as stern and stubborn as possible.

Growling with frustration, Aaron lashed out and grabbed Sparx in his hand, leaping into a sprint as Dark Spyro appeared around the corner, eyes gleaming with fury and saliva dripping from his gaping jaws as he let out another throaty roar. Sparx screamed at the sight of his corrupted brother, and Aaron let out a long stream of incredibly violent curses as he ran. "SOMEBODY HELP!" he eventually screamed after he got the foul language out of his system.

He let out another scream as General Icebreath suddenly ran around the corner in front of him, scowling threateningly, but he needed to keep going. It was either General Icebreath or Dark Spyro, and right now, he thought General Icebreath was the better choice. The large ice dragon opened his maw and icy mist began to bellow out of his throat, but the beam of ice wasn't aimed at him.

Dark Spyro fell to the ground as the beam of ice walloped him hard in the chest. "DAMN YOU, ICEBREATH!" Dark Spyro swore.

"Go! Run!" General Icebreath shouted.

Aaron wasn't sure if he heard the ice dragon correctly, but he ran past him. Volteer ran up behind him, followed by Cyril. He felt slightly awkward being around the ice guardian, but he kept his mouth shut.

Suddenly, Sparx opened his mouth and let out a plea of help, struggling against Aaron's hold. "Can one of you old hunks of scales get me out of this furless ape's grasp?!" he cried. "I'm dying here!"

"You'll be fine, Sparx!" Volteer scolded, before taking a double take. " _Sparx_?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I wanted to visit Spyro!"

"Well not in his current state, you aren't!" Cyril retorted.

"I didn't know he was going to go all evil and creepy when I got here!" Sparx scowled.

"Aaron, can you get to the gates of Warfang? Best we get you out of here!" Volteer said.

"I'll try!" Aaron replied, but suddenly tripped over a cobblestone brick from a collapsed building, twisting his ankle and landing on his side.

Aaron cried out in pain. In his fall, he had released Sparx, who flew up into the air, screaming in hysterical fear, before flying around a corner and disappearing out of sight completely. "Aaron, are you alright?!" Volteer asked, stopping in front of him.

"I've twisted my ankle, I can't run!" Aaron groaned.

"You may not be able to run, but _I_ can!" Volteer growled, and Aaron felt Volteer's jaws around him.

Volteer tossed Aaron up into the air, and the human landed on his back. "Hold on tight!" Volteer said, and began to pick up speed.

* * *

"Get out of my way, Icebreath!" Dark Spyro scowled. "I want the human. Or do you want to take his place? I will kill anyone who gets in my way."

"Then so be it. I will fight to the death, just like my mate before me." General Icebreath scowled. "I don't want you wreaking any more havoc here."

Dark Spyro threw his head back in hearty laughter, the sound hurting General Icebreath's ears. "That was _your_ mate, Icebreath? She was _pathetic_! You'd think one who has a prison guard for a mate would at least learn _some_ battle moves. She could barely even land a hit on me!" he chuckled. "She went down too easily. But you know what? Her blood was the best I have ever tasted! Want to know why? Because it carried the sweet taste of weakness and agony."

General Icebreath had had enough. He lunged at Dark Spyro, claws outstretched and jaws open in a loud roar. Dark Spyro was prepared. A beam of convexity roared out of his maw, scoring a heavy hit on General Icebreath's stomach, and he was sent flying backwards into a cobblestone building. The force of his impact smashed some of the bricks around him, and the wall imploded. He felt a wing crack out of place, but he was lucky it was just a wing. It could have been much worse. Until he realised it was. A burning sensation came from his abdomen, and he realised how powerful the convexity blast really was. His stomach felt like it was on fire, and he screamed in pain, the very action of doing so causing his belly to cramp up, adding to the intense burning sensation. His stomach suddenly began to convulse, and General Icebreath gagged, increasing the pain in his abdomen, before he bent down and threw up on the ground in front of him. It hurt a lot. The action of lowering his head to throw up also allowed him to see the extent of the damage on his abdomen.

It was bad. _Really_ bad. Black, brown and red was sprayed all over his once cyan and indigo scales. The smell of charring flesh reached his nostrils, and he realised he was bleeding, too. Small droplets of blood fall onto the ground in front of him, mixing with his regurgitated stomach fluids, and he saw with much more detail, the popped blood vessels that had begun to leak blood. General Icebreath groaned in pain, but he was suddenly interrupted as another beam of convexity shot out of Dark Spyro's mouth, and he was slammed even further into the wall, which broke apart from the force and he landed inside the building, which was actually someone's home. He didn't bother to see whose it was. All he heard was screams as the residents left at the sight of Dark Spyro and himself. Suddenly, the same burning sensation he had felt earlier filled his chest, even stronger than before.

Dark Spyro walked into the building through the hole General Icebreath had created from smashing through the building, and laughed hideously. "How pitiful. Not even an experienced guard like you could hold against me. You're pathetic. _Weak_. Just like your mate. And you will die the same way she did!" he chuckled, before lunging at General Icebreath with jaws open wide.

General Icebreath rolled painfully out of the way, and Dark Spyro's jaws closed on thin air. He looked up at the dark dragon, who had quickly recovered. Dark Spyro leapt at him again, and General Icebreath released the best ice beam he could, given his chest and stomach pain. Dark Spyro fell to the ground about two metres away from General Icebreath, and growled in annoyance. General Icebreath quickly scrambled to his paws, only to hastily jump, almost sliding, out of the way of another beam of convexity. He saw Dark Spyro slowly get to his paws, and he breathed another beam of ice at the dark dragon. Dark Spyro fell slightly as the ice hit his shoulder, but he brushed the impact off like it was nothing, and turned to General Icebreath with a snarl, before lunging at him. General Icebreath quickly turned his head and buried his fangs into Dark Spyro's neck, but he was tackled to the ground as the weight and force behind Dark Spyro's attack was greater than what he could withstand, and Dark Spyro's razor-sharp claws dug into his shoulders.

General Icebreath cried out in pain. But it was as soon as he did that he realised the mistake he had made. He had let go of Dark Spyro, and the demonic dragon twisted his head around and bit hard into General Icebreath's neck. General Icebreath attempted to let out a cry of pain, but it came out as a strangled gurgle. Suddenly, the weight was off him as a wave of heat passed over them, and Dark Spyro staggered off General Icebreath, growling in anger. General Icebreath looked over to the source of the heat, and saw Blazrak standing in the hole in the wall of the house, the elder's nostrils bellowing with smoke. General Icebreath quickly got to his paws and raced off towards Blazrak, who let out another powerful stream of fire at Dark Spyro. Dark Spyro roared with annoyance, batting at the fire, but no evident damage seemed to be inflicted. In fact, Dark Spyro didn't even seem to be wounded at all. The blood that covered Dark Spyro's midnight black scales all belonged to General Icebreath, Cynder, and Voette. But General Icebreath was sure he had drawn blood when he had bitten into Dark Spyro's neck; he had tasted the metallic tang of blood against his tongue, and felt the wetness of the red liquid. Could it be possible that Dark Spyro could heal any wound he was inflicted?

"Quick, Icebreath!" Blazrak shouted, his voice cutting through his thoughts. "Go!"

General Icebreath staggered out of the building and ran off in the direction Aaron, Volteer and Cyril had run, with Blazrak hot on his tail. Dark Spyro burst through the wall of the building, sending bricks flying everywhere, as he continued to chase after General Icebreath and Blazrak. But suddenly, Dark Spyro turned and changed course. "Where's he going?" General Icebreath asked.

"In search of Aaron! We need to hope that Aaron, Volteer and Cyril have gotten far enough that Dark Spyro won't find them!" Blazrak replied.

"Dark Spyro seems pretty capable of a lot of things. No, scratch that. He _is_ capable of a lot of things. I'm sure without a doubt that he'll find them. We need to follow him, because there's no way we'll ever find them on our own!"

* * *

"Cynder?" a deep, gravelly voice familiar to Cynder asked. "Are you alright?"

Cynder looked up, blinking as light entered her eyes again. She saw Terrador looming over her, a shocked look on his face. "Terrador? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Checking on you. You're covered in blood. Are you alright?" Terrador asked. "What happened?"

"Dark Spyro happened."

"What? What happened to Spyro?!"

"Back in the Well of Souls, during the Night of Eternal Darkness five years ago, Spyro was corrupted in the beam of darkness inside the Well of Souls when Adrano and Zella met in the eclipse. _Dark Spyro_ was the one that killed Gaul, and if Spyro loses control of his emotions, Dark Spyro comes to the surface. It happened after Ignitus died. Spyro can't help it. And it's happened again. And I couldn't stop the darkness inside him this time!" Cynder explained, breathing in hoarsely before she let out a loud wail. "I couldn't stop it! Dark Spyro's _unstoppable_!"

"Cynder, calm down. I'm sure there's a way to stop it." Terrador said. "It can't be too bad."

"LOOK AT ME, TERRADOR?! I'M COVERED IN MY OWN BLOOD! HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT IT'S 'NOT TOO BAD', TERRADOR?!" Cynder howled, causing Terrador to flinch at her sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry, Cynder. I didn't mean…"

Terrador was cut off as a loud, demonic roar reached their ears. Cynder scrambled to her paws and ran off in the direction of the sound. Clueless, Terrador ran after her, calling her name. "Slow down, Cynder!" he cried.

They turned the corner and joined up with General Icebreath, who was covered in blood and had two terrible burn wounds on his chest and abdomen, and Blazrak, who was faring pretty well, luckily. "Terrador?! Cynder?! Thank the ancestors you're still alive!" General Icebreath cried.

"Icebreath?! What the hell happened?!" Terrador asked.

"That creature's a demon! He can't be hurt – his wounds heal almost immediately!" General Icebreath shouted.

"He's run off in pursuit of Aaron." Blazrak explained.

"Wait, 'Aaron'?! You're calling him _by name_?" Cynder asked.

"Long story – we'll explain later. Right now, we need to find Dark Spyro and try and get him out of here!" General Icebreath replied. Terrador didn't pick up the exchange, with still no idea that they were trying to find and save Aaron.

They quickly caught up to the crazed demon, and Terrador shouted with a slight falter in his step at the sight of Dark Spyro. "What is that thing?!" Terrador demanded.

"That's the demon that did this to us." Cynder replied.

Immediately, Cynder lunged forward, claws outstretched, and landed on Dark Spyro's back. He let out a howl of pure rage as he went down, flopping to his stomach, and he thrashed about underneath Cynder. He clawed at the ground furiously, before throwing Cynder into the air, and rolling over. He lashed out with his claws, thrusting them painfully into Cynder's stomach, before tossing her sideways as she lay on the ground, groaning in pain as blood rolled down her abdomen.

General Icebreath let out a roar and breathed a large beam of ice at Dark Spyro. It encased his head, and Dark Spyro stumbled around with the heavy weight around his head. Terrador lunged at Dark Spyro with a loud roar. But Dark Spyro was prepared and brought his head around in a wide arc, slamming it forcefully into Terrador's chest, the impact causing the ice around his head to shatter into millions of tiny shards. Some of which flew into Terrador's flesh between his scales, drawing small beads of blood. Dark Spyro laughed as he launched himself at Terrador, jaws open wide, saliva hanging between his jaws, which was coloured red due to the still fresh blood he had in his mouth. Terrador shouted with fear, not thinking quick enough to get away. General Icebreath lunged at Dark Spyro.

But General Icebreath landed on the ground, and Terrador was completely untouched, as another figure slammed into Dark Spyro, sending him falling to the ground. Terrador gasped when he saw who it was. An earth dragon, in his mid-eighties, quite skinny for an earth dragon, with his jaws clamped around Dark Spyro's throat. Dark Spyro thrashed about violently, wrenching his neck from the dragon's jaws, and drawing blood. The wounds immediately began to close, and the blood ceased to pump out of Spyro's system, the dark spells that Dark Spyro brought onto the purple dragon's body going into play. Dark Spyro rolled over, managing to get the earth dragon underneath him, and Dark Spyro chomped down on the dragon's neck, and the earth dragon howled, his voice higher than most earth dragons.

"SOILROUSER!" Terrador howled.

"FATHER!" the earth dragon screamed, the cry filled with agony.

Terrador lunged at Dark Spyro, grabbing him and throwing him off his son. But Dark Spyro took a great big chunk of flesh with him, and blood poured down Soilrouser's neck like a flood. "Don't touch my son again, demon!" Terrador scowled.

Dark Spyro picked himself up off the ground with a bark of laughter. "He _attacked_ me. Whoever gets in the way of what I want will be killed, _no exception_. Is that clear?!" Dark Spyro shouted. "If you give me what I want, no one gets hurt!"

"Don't listen to him!" Cynder croaked, picking herself painfully off the ground. "Don't _ever_ listen to what Dark Spyro says!"

"HEY! ARE YOU STILL COMING FOR ME OR WHAT?!" a voice shouted, and all eyes turned to Aaron, who was riding on Volteer's back down the street. Cyril stood next to them. Both guardians were determined scowls on their faces.

Dark Spyro let out a roar and turned back to Terrador. "Consider yourself lucky." he scowled, before bounding off to chase after Aaron, Volteer and Cyril.

"Wait a moment, that was the ape! If _that's_ what he's after, he can have it!" Terrador scowled.

" _No_ , Terrador! He's not what we think he is!" General Icebreath retorted.

"What, you too?!" Terrador roared. "Traitors! The _lot_ of you!"

"Why do you think he just saved your son?!" General Icebreath shouted, extending his wing towards Soilrouser's broken body, but Terrador seemed to ignore the gesture and the name of his son. "I've opened my eyes to the truth! Everything Aaron does is not anything like how an ape would behave! He's _not_ one of them! I've realised how many times we've hurt him, and he's only fought back to keep himself safe! He _doesn't_ want to fight us!"

"Liar!" Terrador shouted. He opened his mouth to continue to speak, but his son's croaky voice stopped him from making a noise.

"He saved my life, Dad." Soilrouser groaned.

Terrador turned to him, calming his voice slightly, emotion filling his eyes. "You were stupid to do that, son. Why did you get involved?" Terrador asked.

"Because I couldn't watch you be killed by that thing. I had to do _something_."

"You need to stay where it's safe, Soilrouser! You're not as strong as other earth dragons. You struggle to even use your element! You _can't fight_ , son!"

" _Again_ with the _damn_ discrimination! Can't I just be what I want to be, Dad?! _All my life_ you've seen me as a hinderance! A _disappointment_! The night before Mother died, I heard you talking with her. About me, _behind my back_! You've _always_ thought I was a disgrace to you. To your damned _title_! Can't you think more about what _I_ want, for _once_ in your ancestor-forbidden life? I just wanted to _help_ you! Just because my egg was smaller than everyone else's, and because _you dropped my egg_ , doesn't mean that I'm a disgrace to be an earth dragon! My skills with my element, and my outward appearance doesn't define who I am! So stop judging me!"

Terrador looked at his bleeding son with sadness in his eyes. "So what do I do?" Terrador asked, his voice quivering, a tear threatening to spill from his right eye.

"Go after Dark Spyro. Make sure that ape's safe."

"But he's an _ape_ , for the ancestors' sake!"

"Did you not hear what I _just said_ , Father? You need to stop being stubborn! Maybe it's a _good thing_ that I'm different! I have my mother's wide and thoughtful mind, and I struggle to use my element. I have an outward appearance, a consequence from my egg being dropped, that makes you think I'm a failure. But maybe I'm _not_. I have the ability to see what you _can't_ see with your stubbornness. In my eyes, _that's_ my _real_ element. Stop judging _him_ for what his outward appearance is. It's what's inside that counts. And even if he _is_ an ape, there are always exceptions. Malefor was the exception to our kind, peaceful nature, right?"

"Your son speaks the truth, Terrador." General Icebreath said. "I only saw it until now. Aaron's different from the apes that we all know and hate. And he's in trouble. Even if we weren't going to save him, _Volteer and Cyril_ are in trouble. Regardless, we need to go and see if they're alright."

Terrador looked at General Icebreath, not expecting the reaction from the ice dragon. Terrador turned and looked at Blazrak and Cynder. They all had the same expression on their faces as General Icebreath. He then looked at his bleeding son. With teary eyes, he nodded. "You alright on your own?" Terrador asked.

Soilrouser struggled to his paws. "I'll be fine; I can fare well on my own, like I have for the past sixty years. I love you, Dad." he said.

"So do I." Terrador said, before turning to his comrades. "Let's go."

Terrador turned and led them after Dark Spyro, Volteer, Cyril, and Aaron.

* * *

 **That Soilrouser scene is one of the best scenes I've ever written. I love it a lot, and to be honest, it was something I thought up on the spot. I was half-way through this chapter when I posted Chapter 13 where he was first mentioned, and I thought it would be a good idea to bring Soilrouser back, in the flesh this time.**

 **And I'm sorry if the Sparx scene was way too short for you. But he will be back, and for much longer, I assure you.**

 **Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!**


	47. Chapter 46: Bloodshed

**OH MY GOSH I JUST WROTE AN 8000-WORD CHAPTER FOR MY OTHER _SPYRO_ FANFIC!**

 **I feel so accomplished; I have never written a chapter that long before. I have about four or five chapters in that fanfic over 5000 words, but I went and increased that by an extra 3000 words. I'm so happy. It's mostly dialogue, but it's very important and has a lot of stuff in it.**

 **Anyway, this also took much longer to edit than I thought because I had to do so much work on my two Maths assignments that are due next week. But I'm happy with it, and I think it's a great way to end this chaotic action sequence.**

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', if you think Dark Spyro's gory in this, wait 'til you see the gore content in my other fanfic. I've got a lot of extra violent scenes to do in it (that fanfic series will be very violence-based), and along with that, a lot more gore. But I really like them, and I'm really proud of them; fanfiction is a really good chance to experiment and increase your vocab, and I'm definitely doing that with my other fanfic, _especially_ the experimenting side of things.**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', I'm sorry, but I've forgotten about Pyra for the rest of this story. She was only meant to be a minor character at the very start, who I just happened to bring back during the Arriax sequence, but the Arriax sequence is the last time we actually see her. I really don't want to do any more rewriting and editing than I have to, so I'm probably going to leave it for now. With Sparx, I hadn't finished _Broken Perceptions_ like I have now, and I had a fair bit of room to squeeze him into, so I ended up putting Sparx in here. But unfortunately, we won't see what Pyra will think of all that's transpired now.**

 **Also, I was incredibly shocked when I found out that flipping 'The Silent Insomniac' _favourited_ my story a few days ago! Thanks so much, man.**

 **Anyway, let's get on with this chapter and the finale of this action sequence.**

* * *

As they entered a large, yet empty courtyard with many small houses and a library around it, Aaron looked behind him. Dark Spyro was closing in on them, and fast. "Volteer, can we go any faster?" he asked.

"I'm running as fast as I can!" Volteer cried.

"Well Dark Spyro's picking up speed!" Aaron shouted. "And fast!"

Dark Spyro let out a loud roar as he lunged at Volteer, tackling the electric guardian to the ground. Aaron slid off the guardian's back, groaning with pain. Cyril screeched to a halt and looked backwards as Volteer thrashed underneath Dark Spyro. Volteer breathed a beam of lightning at Dark Spyro's jaw, and the demonic dragon snarled as he staggered backwards. Volteer scrambled to his paws, but Dark Spyro recovered quicker, and opened his maw, which began to glow bright purple as he prepared another beam of convexity. Aaron grabbed an arrow from his quiver and nocked it against his bowstring, aiming and releasing, sending the arrow flying into Dark Spyro's neck. Aaron saw Cyril's eyes widen with surprise at how well and quickly he fired his arrow. Dark Spyro turned and snarled, baring his yellow and red teeth. Aaron shouted and fired another arrow, which landed just above Dark Spyro's left nostril, but the demonic dragon was unshaken by the second shot, and began to run towards him, jaws open to release the convexity beam.

Cyril was quick to act as he breathed a beam of ice at Dark Spyro's jaws, freezing them shut. The dark dragon turned, bright white eyes gleaming with hatred. Dark Spyro's head shook violently as his muscles trembled, and the ice around his jaws shattered in a spectacular display of shining shards of ice that sprayed outwards. Dark Spyro roared, showing a ghastly display of yellow, blood-stained fangs and wet, bright pink flesh, before lunging at Cyril.

Another arrow hit Dark Spyro in the back of the head, but it wasn't Aaron's. Hunter, Ulfitz and Horilith ran into the courtyard, arrows knocked against bowstrings. Ulfitz released his arrow, and it landed in Dark Spyro's tongue as he opened his mouth to roar. Blood squirted out of the fleshy, pink muscle, and Aaron noticed that it continued to bleed. The wound didn't close like all the other ones did. He guessed it was probably because the arrowhead was still stuck inside the flesh, and the wound couldn't close with the arrowhead still buried inside the flesh. He noticed his two arrows still had blood seeping from their respective wounds, the only wounds on Dark Spyro's body apart from the fresh tongue wound. "Arrows do the trick! The wounds can't close with an arrowhead still in the flesh!" Aaron shouted.

As he said that, he fired a third arrow at Dark Spyro, hitting him in the hind right leg. Blood spurted out of the wound and dripped down his leg. Dark Spyro roared in pain, before turning to face Aaron. Before Dark Spyro could act, Volteer leapt at him, putting his jaws around the demon's neck and biting down hard, drawing blood. Dark Spyro thrashed about, and Volteer hung onto his neck tight. Dark Spyro suddenly lashed out with jagged, sharp claws, raking them down Volteer's chest, drawing immense amounts of blood. Volteer fell to the ground, shouting in pain, and the bite wounds around Dark Spyro's neck closed. Dark Spyro leapt forward, pinning Volteer to the ground as he opened his jaws in a dark chortle, saliva dripping down his black jaws. The demon reared, opening his jaws wide to take a large bite out of Volteer, who screamed in fear.

Dark Spyro was suddenly thrown off Volteer as a large green body threw itself at Dark Spyro, and Aaron, Volteer and Cyril gasped with shock as they saw Terrador savagely clawing at Dark Spyro's chest. Blood sprayed in numerous directions from Dark Spyro's chest. The dark dragon remained unhurt in reality, as he jerked his body violently, causing Terrador to lose balance and fall sideways off Dark Spyro, and his bloody wounds began to close almost immediately. Hunter and Horilith were quick, however, and both fired an arrow each into the rapidly closing wounds, and the arrowheads stopped them from completely closing over as blood continued to drip down Dark Spyro's chest.

General Icebreath suddenly leapt from out of nowhere, landing on top of Dark Spyro to keep him down. Dark Spyro rolled over and suddenly, he was on top of General Icebreath, who shouted in fear. Terrador recomposed himself and shot an earth missile at Dark Spyro, and Dark Spyro staggered off General Icebreath, the impact confusing Dark Spyro slightly, but there were no wounds. Cynder leapt on top of Dark Spyro, pinning him to the ground. Cyril followed her, placing both his forepaws on Dark Spyro's head, downing him. Volteer ran up to them and placed his forepaws on Dark Spyro's thrashing tailblade, struggling to hold it still as Dark Spyro's powerful muscles rippled underneath his skin. General Icebreath joined Cynder in downing Dark Spyro's torso, and for a moment, it seemed as if they had neutralised the demon, but Dark Spyro let out a loud growl through gritted teeth, glaring furiously at the dragons that held him down. A large purple shockwave of energy flung out of his torso, sending all the dragons holding Dark Spyro down flying into the air, shouting and coughing.

Dark Spyro stood up and let out a victorious roar as he turned towards Cynder, the pink, fleshy insides of his mouth glowing a hideous purple colour as a lethal beam of pure convexity began to power up. Cynder shouted with fear, trying to scramble to her paws, but her left foreleg was dislocated, wrenched in a disgustingly awkward position, and she couldn't place weight on it. Suddenly, Dark Spyro reared his head and let out a roar, firing the beam of convexity into the air. His body burst into bright orange flames, and Cynder looked up and saw Blazrak on top of the library, the tallest building around the courtyard, eyes glowing red and wings alight with a raging fire. Dark Spyro followed her gaze and let out a roar of pain and fury. Blazrak opened his mouth and a massive, furious inferno thundered down on top of Dark Spyro, who let out a high-pitched, demonic screech as the heat increased around him.

The corrupted purple dragon staggered out of the inferno, wings charred and still alight with bright orange flames. He let out another roar, and his eyes went from a blinding white to a demonic, blazing red that struck fear in the hearts of everyone there. Even Blazrak seemed to falter. Dark Spyro roared yet again, this time much more sinister and warped than the many other times the dark dragon had roared, and Aaron shivered. Then, Dark Spyro spoke, his voice completely demonic. All evidence of Spyro was gone as Dark Spyro spoke in low, evil tones. "You will all _die_! You will all die a _bloody_ death! A slow, painful, _agonising_ death! I will _kill_ you all, and I will make sure you loathe _every last moment of it_!" Dark Spyro howled, as he was engulfed in bright purple flames, which put out the blazing orange fire around him.

Dark Spyro instantly lunged at Blazrak, and they fought on top of the roof of the tall library. Dark Spyro started with a swipe of his tailblade, which Blazrak dodged with ease as he ducked. He brought his head forward, his horns slamming forcefully into Dark Spyro's chest, but the dark dragon wasn't fazed at all. He roared and lashed out with savage, glowing purple claws. Blazrak danced about wildly, trying to avoid the furious claws. But the last few attacks hit him. Large, bloody cuts raked down Blazrak's chest and right flank. Blazrak opened his mouth and released another inferno at Dark Spyro, but the dark dragon dodged the attack, and a savage, super-charged beam of convexity was fired at Blazrak. Blazrak heard Cynder shout with fear, and he created a wall of fire in front of him. It acted almost as if it was solid, the beam of convexity colliding with it and stopping in its tracks as a massive explosion rocked the building. Dark Spyro leapt out of the cloud of dust, jaws gaping wide and claws outstretched, and Blazrak dodged. Dark Spyro quickly recovered, turning and lunging at Blazrak again. Blazrak wasn't prepared this time, as Dark Spyro bit down around Blazrak's neck. Blazrak let out a gurgling shout of pain. Dark Spyro reared, lifting Blazrak off the ground as he hung from Dark Spyro's jaws. The dark dragon swung his head around and opened his jaws, releasing Blazrak as the heavily wounded elder fell down, possibly towards his death.

Terrador was quick. He focused hard on the body of Blazrak as the elder plummeted to the ground, and Blazrak was quickly encased in a thick ball of rock. It shattered upon impact with the ground, but Blazrak was safely protected. The shock from the impact knocked him unconscious, but it did nothing more than that, luckily.

Dark Spyro leapt down from the building, and closed in on Blazrak, salivating like a monster. There was a shout, and three foxes ran out from one of the streets than entered the courtyard, swords raised. Lohfur led the two other foxes into battle, and he swung his sword savagely across the demon's hind left leg, drawing blood, although the wound closed immediately. Dark Spyro turned and scowled at Lohfur, who held his sword in his right paw, which he raised high in the air. Lohfur threw the sword at Dark Spyro, and the heavy sword buried itself into Dark Spyro's left shoulder. Dark Spyro howled with pain, and swung his tailblade around, cutting through Lohfur's chest, leaving a massive bloody cut as the impact sent Lohfur flying sideways. Luckily, Dark Spyro's tailblade had missed Lohfur's heart, and he still lived, but he bled profusely, crying out in pain.

The other two foxes didn't get a chance to attack Dark Spyro. He turned on them quickly with furious snarls. He brought his claws up across the chest of one of the foxes, sending him flying into the air. He dropped his sword, and landed unconscious, bleeding profusely like Lohfur. The other fox wasn't so lucky as Dark Spyro swung his tailblade around again, with much more force than his attack against Lohfur, and the tailblade sliced cleanly through the fox's neck, the feeble bones snapping as the tailblade went in one side, and out the other. The fox fell to the ground as his head fell next to the body, leaking immense amounts of gore.

Dark Spyro laughed at what he had done, and immediately growled as he felt more pain in his body. Another arrow had embedded itself into his left flank, and he turned and saw Hunter with his bow aimed at Dark Spyro, with another arrow nocked to the drawstring. Dark Spyro was quicker than Hunter was. He fired a beam of convexity at Hunter, and the cheetah was sent flying, his robes burnt to a crisp and a massive burn wound similar to the ones General Icebreath bore was left on his stomach, his fur burnt to a harsh black and bright pink flesh visible underneath as blood streamed from the popped blood vessels around and inside the wound.

Ulfitz and Horilith ran forward, arrows nocked to their drawstrings with bows aimed at Dark Spyro, ready to defend their friend and leader in battle. Dark Spyro lashed out, giving Ulfitz an ugly wound on his stomach, causing Ulfitz to fall back, dropping his bow as he landed on his rear end next to Hunter, crying out in pain. Horilith lost both his forearms as Dark Spyro's tailblade sliced cleanly through them. Horilith fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes as he held his bloody stumps in front of him. Pain seared through Horilith's chest as the flat of Dark Spyro's tailblade walloped him hard, sending him flying into the wall of a building, the impact sending him falling unconscious.

Aaron had finally had enough of this madness as he grabbed his last arrow from his quiver, nocked it to his drawstring and fired. The arrow landed in Dark Spyro's tail, and the demon turned towards Aaron. "I'm the one you wanted, you demon! Why don't you have me?!" Aaron shouted. Dark Spyro seemed to falter at being called a demon, but then he recomposed himself and advanced on the human.

"Aaron, no!" Cynder cried. "No! Stop!"

She tried to scramble to her paws, but fell down as her head spun, still dizzy from the convexity shockwave that had put all the dragons out of the battle. Her dislocated foreleg didn't help, either. Dark Spyro chuckled darkly, advancing threateningly on Aaron. His wild, red gaze tore through Aaron's soul, and he was unable to move, unable to breathe, as the weight of crippling fear bore down on him like a vice. His breathing went hoarse and ragged, and huge beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. Tears built up in his eyes, and he prepared for his end.

A voice tore through the moment, and Dark Spyro froze, his expression filled with fury and his muscles tensed. Aaron looked around Dark Spyro, and saw behind him, a young yellow dragon all too familiar to him. "Spyro? Is that you? What happened here?" he asked.

"Shocker. Run." Aaron croaked, but Shocker payed no heed to Aaron.

"Why won't you idiots just get out of my way and let the _damned_ human DIE?!" Dark Spyro roared, his maw glowing bright purple as his roar seemed to last endlessly, the sound echoing around his body.

"Run! Get out of here!" Aaron shouted, and when everyone else realised what was going to happen, they burst into frantic shouting as well, but Shocker was frozen in fear, and didn't move.

Spyro whirled around.

There was a loud explosion as the ground shook underneath them, and Shocker was sent flying backwards from the force of the attack. He slammed into the wall of the building behind him, and a loud crack reverberated through the courtyard. Shocker howled in agony, tears streaming from his cheeks as his legs twitched spasmodically. His back had broken.

Dark Spyro still faced the young fourteen-year-old, and Aaron wondered what he was going to do as the dragon's gaze didn't waver from the broken teenager. His question was answered when another beam of convexity tore from his jaws, and Shocker was silenced mid-scream. The beam of convexity didn't end. Dark Spyro then began to turn his head, bringing the convexity beam up along Shocker's chest, and then up his neck, before ending at his chin before Dark Spyro closed his mouth.

Everyone stared at the corpse in silence.

Cynder broke the silence with a high-pitched shout. "What have you done?!" she screamed.

"I have eradicated a threat to my plans." Dark Spyro replied, every ounce of his voice bubbling with hate and rage.

"You killed him! You _killed_ Shocker! He was your _friend_!" Cynder screamed.

"He was _Spyro's_ friend! I had nothing to do with that blasted idiot!" Dark Spyro scowled.

"He was a _child_! You killed a friggin' _child_ , Spyro!" Cynder howled.

"It's nothing compared to me, Cynder. I was _forced_ to fight a war I originally had no part of when I was thirteen!" Dark Spyro shouted angrily, trying to use Spyro's memories as a weapon against her. "Surely you'd remember that! _You_ were the one who tried to kill _me_!"

"That isn't Spyro talking! Shut the hell up!"

"Why don't _you_?! Or I'll kill _you_ next!"

Cynder cursed Spyro violently, and Aaron was surprised at her sudden use of the f-bomb. But that violent word seemed to do something. Dark Spyro twitched, and his eyes flickered. Aaron swore he could see his scales flickering and changing colours too.

Spyro was fighting back!

The sight and sounds that came from the dragon was ugly. A mix of distorted screeches and roars tore from Dark Spyro's mouth. The screeches were so terrible that Aaron's ears began to ring. The body flickered from indigo to violet, and it hurt Aaron's eyes. Dark Spyro's eyes were glowing even more violently, before violet irises began to make their way through the blinding light from Dark Spyro's eyes.

After a full minute of pained howls of protest from Dark Spyro, Spyro fought his way back to the surface, and a blood-streaked, teenage purple dragon stood in front of them all, an expression of pure fear on his face. But Aaron knew that he wasn't scared of them.

He was scared of himself.

Spyro turned and took a look at Shocker's broken body. Blood flooded from the massive wound that streaked along Shocker's neck and chest, and his back was twisted at an awkward angle. Shocker's bright-coloured scales were charred black, and brown and red flesh lay underneath the scales that had completely disintegrated. Snapped ribs were visible through the massive wound that had punctured through Shocker's flesh on his chest, and to finish it off, lay a partly visible, unbeating heart.

The purple dragon let out a loud howl as he collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably as heavy sobs wracked his form. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" he screeched. "I KILLED HIM… I KILLED _THEM_! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"

Aaron began to tear up at the sight of Spyro, broken emotionally, howling and wailing on the ground in front of them. He saw that Cynder, Hunter, and the guardians were also trying to hold back their tears at the ugly sight. Spyro was hysterical.

Aaron turned as he saw a figure stand up. Blazrak had regained consciousness, and was struggling to his paws. A hard, stern look was on his face. Spyro turned and looked up towards Blazrak. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" he screamed.

"You _will_ be punished for this, Spyro. I know it wasn't your fault, but you let your emotions get the best of you, and you fell into the demon that killed Shocker, General Icebreath's mate, and the fox lying at your paws." Blazrak deadpanned.

Spyro suddenly looked at his paws, and saw for the first time the bloody mess of the fox that he had decapitated in his demonic rage. He howled in grief, hung his head, and continued to wail, tears pouring out of his eyes, which were bright red from all his crying.

"To think you could fall so far, Spyro." Volteer muttered. "You should have told us about him."

"I didn't want to! I was scared!" Spyro shouted. "I was scared of what you would think of me!"

"All the more reason to have told us earlier." Terrador replied. "We could have helped you fight him."

"I can't believe you, Spyro. For years, I had seen you as a hero. Someone I could look up to." Aaron said, causing Spyro to turn towards him with pure agony and shock in his expression. "Your Legend has been around for several years, and I used to read them as a child, and you would put strength in my heart, because I saw how strong you were in the war. I saw a young child, like me, not giving up through the torment and the fighting, and I took that with me to school and to my real life, where I was picked on by bullies and defined by many as an outcast.

"But now I see I was wrong. You're not who I thought you were."

"Shut up." Spyro croaked, his red eyes narrowing.

"You were strong in the fighting, because you had an expectation for trouble and things not going your way. But in a time full of peace, you break apart in an emotional, angry wreck when things don't go your way. If there's one thing I learned from this, and from my whole life in general, nothing goes your way all the time. And you need to learn to deal with that. But to see you fall like that, and to act like a spoilt brat who thinks everything should go _his_ way is not who I thought you are."

" _Shut up_!" Spyro scowled through gritted teeth, trying to calm down. His body shook violently and his claws clenched.

"If I'm being honest here, and I am, I'd say _Cynder_ is the real hero of the story. She was rescued from evil, and although she was seen as who she was in the past and defined as an outcast for it, she tried her hardest to live normally and to not let what others say get to her. She fought alongside you in the end of the war on a completely different side to what she was used to, and she had to adjust. Come to think of it, _nothing_ went her way! Ever! Her _life_ never went her way, but she still stuck at it, trying to make things better! You should be looking up to her!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP _NOW_!" Spyro screamed, only to fall unconscious as an earth missile shattered in the back of his head.

"Good thinking, Terrador." Volteer sighed.

"You spoke well, Aaron." Terrador mumbled, panting heavily. "But in this situation, we were all like Spyro. Trying not to believe that things weren't going our way and reacting negatively because of it."

"We should all go and rest for the night." Blazrak said before he burst into a fit of hoarse coughing. "We'll decide how to resolve this in the morning. Everyone here will be punished, because we're _all_ at fault. We'll meet at the Warfang Temple at sunrise to discuss this."

Slowly, and painfully, everyone got to their paws and went their own separate ways. Aaron went with the cheetahs and foxes back to their camp outside of Warfang, and the dragons went to their own quarters. Spyro was dragged back to the Warfang Temple and he spent the night there.

Aaron, the cheetahs, and the foxes took the corpse of the decapitated fox back to their camp and held a small funeral for him, before burning his corpse and blowing the ashes of his spirit to the afterlife.

Aaron struggled to sleep that night, the memories of the bloody battle and the fox's funeral still vivid in his mind.

* * *

 **Well, Shocker's dead. I wonder who saw that coming?**


	48. Chapter 47: Paying the Price

**Gah stupid Maths assignments are taking up all my time. Call me weird, but I much prefer Maths exams over assignments; assignments are just flipping annoying for Maths. I haven't even had a chance over these past three or four days to even _start_ the next chapter of my fanfic, so I decided because it'll be about three or so more days until I can get started on it that I would post this next chapter. It's not as great as the last one, but I think I portrayed the right emotions. Maybe. Call this chapter crap if you want, because I think it's more on the crappy side as compared to most of the other chapters in _Broken Perceptions_. _Especially_ after the last chapter which was a cracker, and by far my favourite chapter I've written in _Broken Perceptions_.**

 **To 'BirmanDragon', I was quite surprised how you thought that the last chapter was so 'flawless'. I think there were a few flaws, and a few extra things I could have done to make it better, but the saying goes that you are your worst critic.**

 **To 'UNNES1000' (who left three reviews lol), I would try and add any other new characters or types of species to _Broken Perceptions_ , but, like I said with Ignitus, there's just no room to put them in, so there will not be any knew characters/anthropomorphic species added. With Sparx, I was still writing this, and I had room to put him in, but it's not the case with this. However, there is the entire five-part _Spyro_ series (completely unrelated to _Broken Perceptions_ ) that I've been working on that should have plenty of interesting new characters and species for you, but until then, you'll just have to wait a bit.**

 **Anyway, kinda boring crappy chapter coming up now especially after last chapter, but here it is anyway.**

* * *

"Glad to see you could all make it." Blazrak said, looking around to see that everyone had made it to the little meeting at dawn. Aaron stood with his arms crossed on the other side of him, healed and in perfect health (although sporting large scars on his bare chest and back), with Lohfur having done his magic work that night with the permission of Blazrak, as well as healing himself, the other two foxes, and the three cheetahs. They stood with Aaron, huge scars covering their bodies as well. Terrador sat next to Blazrak, expressionless, but Blazrak could tell that questions and concerns swarmed through Terrador's head. Next to him was Volteer, flustered and unsure what was going to happen. On the other side of Blazrak was Cyril, whose brother sat next to him. Cyril was unreadable, but General Icebreath had his head hung low, a sombre expression on his face. General Icebreath had abused Aaron a lot, and had fuelled the savage fires of Dark Spyro, and he believed he was responsible for everything and that he would be punished the hardest. But next to General Icebreath sat Spyro, and next to him, Cynder. Spyro had been the one who had _let_ his emotions and the darkness inside his body get the better of him, and that had resulted in the three murders the day before. Cynder sat with her wing wrapped around Spyro's back with comfort, tear streaks still evident on the purple dragon's downcast face. The teenage purple dragon had been an emotional wreck all night, crying himself to sleep and waking up after a terrible nightmare where he relived all he had done, and had been an emotional wreck all morning. It had taken a long time to calm him down, and even then, he still shed more tears. He'd even attacked Cyril in his scared, flustered condition, and after realising that he had pinned the guardian, he fell even further into his depression. Everyone cast nervous, worried glances at Spyro, and they all felt sorry for the poor purple dragon who was struggling to even smile.

"Before we get started, I want to say that every dragon here will be punished. We have all made mistakes and have been deliberately blind to the truth, despite having it been shoved in our faces several times. I have talked with the other elders, who couldn't make it here today, and we have agreed on punishments for each and every one of you." Blazrak continued. "Even I will be punished today, as I let my anger get the better of me a few more times than was necessary. My punishment was decided by the other elders; I had no say in it. But our punishments will not be as severe as most dragons' would be, given some of the circumstances, especially our ranks. It was not entirely our fault, especially off Spyro's end. These punishments are to teach us what we did wrong, and to allow us time to think, and to see if we can make things right."

"What about Cynder?" Volteer asked. "She hasn't done anything wrong; she was the first dragon here to believe in the truth."

"And if you don't remember, she spoke rudely and with disrespect to someone of a higher rank than her. Even though the General will be punished as well, it was still against our law to speak down to someone with Icebreath's rank." Blazrak replied. "So, since we're on the topic, we'll start with Cynder."

Cynder turned to look at Blazrak. Her eyes shone with regret, and she averted her eyes to look apologetically at General Icebreath, before flicking back to look Blazrak in the eyes, holding his sharp gaze bravely. "You will be expected to work hard labour rebuilding all of the structures that Dark Spyro destroyed in his rage. You will be working with construction workers like moles and earth dragons who are paid to do this, but you, however, will not be paid. We decided that about a month is a reasonable time for you to be doing this, since your actions were not as severe as some of the others' in this room." Blazrak said. Spyro whimpered and tensed next to Cynder, and she brought his frail form closer to her. No one else seemed to pay any attention to the purple dragon. "We'll get you in contact with some of our construction workers and you can get started in the morning."

Cynder nodded respectfully. Blazrak turned to his right and looked at Volteer. Volteer looked back at him, pawing at the ground nervously, struggling to hold the gaze of the piercing crimson eyes. "Volteer, you spoke disrespectfully to me and the other elders, as well as Terrador and Cyril." he said. "You will work with Cynder, but since you have important duties to return to, three weeks is long enough. You will work a week less than Cynder will."

Volteer, hesitantly, nodded, before Blazrak added, "You will also be stripped of your title during those three weeks. You will be treated as any normal dragon will. That will go for you as well, Terrador, Cyril, and Icebreath, but your punishments will be much harsher, as your actions were more severe and deserve more severe consequences."

Cyril spluttered with annoyance. Quickly, his brother put a wing around him, hushing him softly. "Cyril, we deserve it. Just go with it, and before you know it, it'll soon be over." General Icebreath said.

"Why are _you_ the one comforting me?! I'm the older brother!" Cyril spat bitterly, shaking his brother's wing off him.

"And you should have more sense to speak kindly to your brother, and with respect to Blazrak." Terrador deadpanned.

Cyril growled, and Blazrak turned to Terrador, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Terrador. Onto you. You let your anger get the better of you, and you assaulted two dragons: Cyril and Icebreath. Cynder and Volteer were caught in the fray of your fury when you attacked Icebreath, thus putting them at risk as well." Blazrak said. "We thought something a little stronger is called for, but we won't go as far as imprisonment, like the law says. Well put you on labour work as well, except we believe we should separate you from the other earth dragons and something you will be good at. So, we thought a messenger would be good; a job generally taken up by electric dragons, as they are fast, and back when they were still alive, wind dragons, as they could fly quickly and precisely. If any messages need to be taken to other cities or dragon settlements, then you will help the team to deliver them. Like Volteer, you will be stripped of your title for your time with them. Since your actions were more severe, five weeks will be necessary."

Terrador groaned as he tilted his head back, before nodding. "I understand…" Terrador sighed, before muttering under his breath about how he hated flying long distances. Blazrak held back a cheeky smirk; Terrain had told him this when they were discussing what was going to be happening.

Blazrak turned to the ice guardian. "Cyril, you've lost your temper on several occasions and have spoken quite rudely to many of us. Cynder, Terrador, Volteer, and I, as well as the other elders. Even your own brother, quite recently. The situation with you is significantly worse than Cynder and Volteer, as you did it on a regular basis, and the extent in which you did it was worse than them. You were irresponsible and careless in what you did and said, and it hurt others in the long run. You need to learn more responsibility." Blazrak said, and Cyril opened his mouth to protest. Blazrak snapped back at Cyril before he could interrupt the fire elder. "And don't say you are responsible since you're a guardian; _obviously_ that hasn't been enough! So, we will put you on a different type of hard labour to make you learn responsibility. Fathering."

"What?! Fathering who?!" Cyril exclaimed, a confused expression screwing up his features.

"Your niece; Icebreath's daughter." Blazrak explained emotionlessly. "For three months."

"What?! _I_ can do that, can't I?" General Icebreath cried, waiting for the worst to come. "I've been doing so for the past four years!"

"No. I'm afraid you and Spyro committed the worst crimes out of all of us. You assaulted Terrador, shed much unnecessary blood from Aaron while he was kept a prisoner, judged and rejected Cynder too much over the past few days where it got to the point of bullying and near-racism, her being a dark dragon by definition after all, since we don't know her original element, and most importantly, hosted an unauthorised execution event. That alone would be enough for two or three years of imprisonment, perhaps more, but us elders believe three months is enough, given your job and your circumstances."

"Wait, are you saying…?! You're putting _me_ in prison?!" General Icebreath exclaimed.

"Yes. How ironic that a prison guard would be put in prison…" Blazrak replied emotionlessly. "I hope you learn from this."

"But… How can I…?! What about my daughter?!"

"Your brother will look after her. You're lucky it's only three months, Icebreath. We _were_ thinking of making it six."

General Icebreath opened his maw to protest, but thought better of it, and hung his head low. "Yes, Blazrak." he croaked.

Blazrak turned to Spyro, who was already in tears after hearing the progression of each of the punishments. "We understand the crimes you committed were not entirely you, so we can't hold you to a full sentence, but you did _let_ it all happen, and as a result, Dark Spyro managed to kill not only four apes back in the Siege of Arriax, but a fox, an adult dragon, and a child. The crimes Dark Spyro committed were severe. Disrespect to the guardians and elders, leading an unauthorised attack on a civilised city, assaulting Aaron to the point of almost limb dismemberment, taking the role of the executioner in an unauthorised execution event, as well as six murders, and on top of that, a child murder. With all that, we believe that twelve months in prison is enough." he said.

Spyro lost it. Loud, croaky wails tore from his throat as tears streamed down his face. "I… I didn't m-m-mean to! I swear! I heard his voice! I didn't want to listen to him, but I believed him! I believed every… single… friggin' word of his!" he cried, before inhaling hoarsely and screaming out with much more force. "I _hate_ him! I hate _myself_! I hate _everything_ I've done!"

Cynder leaned close to him and whispered to him. Only Spyro heard her. "Do you want to get rid of Dark Spyro or not? This isolation will be the perfect environment to have time alone to try and get that demon out of your head." Cynder whispered. Spyro opened his mouth to protest, and Cynder knew what he was going to say, so spoke before he could say a word. "I know he'll always be there. But you can shut his voice out of your head and gain control over him!"

At this, Spyro seemed to calm down. Tears still streamed from his eyes and heavy sobs wracked his body, but his wails had died down. His eyes were red, and his lips were pulled back to revealed gritted fangs as he bit back loud sobs.

Suddenly, Cyril piped up. "What about Aaron and the cheetahs? _They_ attacked _us_." he said.

Blazrak opened his mouth to speak, but Spyro beat him to it, speaking with complete depression filling his wobbly voice. "They were defending themselves." he murmured, his voice still croaky from his pitiful wails earlier. "It wasn't their fault that this happened. It was ours, and it was _mine_. _We're_ to blame, not them. _I'm_ to blame!"

"Well said, Spyro." Blazrak said, nodding comfortingly in his direction.

"Then why are they here?!" Cyril growled.

"As spectators. It's because of what we've done to them that we're here. I think they should at least be here to watch."

Aaron looked at Hunter, who shrugged, as did Lohfur. Blazrak then continued speaking. "As for me, I'm stepping down as 'acting guardian' as my 'punishment' for the time being until Volteer is ready to step back to the position. I will be stripped of my 'elder' title, and I will be treated as any normal guardian would, meaning that the other elders will have power over even me during those three weeks.

"So does everyone understand what is happening?" Blazrak continued, and he was answered by nodding. "Your punishments will begin at noon – for Cynder, Terrador and Volteer, you will start tomorrow once we get you a placement. Icebreath and Spyro, I will be waiting for you here to escort you to the prison. Understood?"

Icebreath and Spyro nodded, and the ex-prison guard turned to the emotional eighteen-year-old. "Don't worry, Spyro. You'll be fine. I'm coming, too. You're not alone." he said.

"For an extra nine months I will be." Spyro deadpanned, sniffling and blinking his eyes rapidly to try and hold back more tears. "I'm gonna be behind bars for a whole damn year!"

"I believe in you, Spyro. You can get through this." Icebreath said. "And when I am freed and brought back to my job, I promise you, it will _not_ be the torture we put Aaron through. That was unnecessary and uncalled for, and that's the reason why I'm going to prison. Or one of them, anyway. We will have to be hard on you though, since you are a prisoner and we don't want to take it too easy on you, so make sure you're prepared."

Spyro nodded, sniffling. He looked to Cynder. He felt the need to apologise well up in his heart. He knew he had apologised way too much, but there was one thing that he hadn't apologised for in the midst of it all. "I'm sorry to what I said to you, Cynder. Back then. When I… when we k… k-k-k…" he stammered, unable to finish the word 'kiss'. "I didn't mean it. I don't hate you. Please understand that. Dark Spyro kept saying things in my head, and I didn't want to listen to him. But I believed him anyway. Please forgive me."

At the last two words, Spyro burst into another burst of uncontrollable sobbing and rested his head on Cynder's shoulder. Cynder didn't know how to react at first. She wasn't expecting that from him, and she was heartbroken at how many tears Spyro had shed since he had woken up from the rage that was Dark Spyro. She drew in a shaky breath and spoke. "Spyro, look at me." Cynder said, and he did so, his depressed violet eyes red with tears. "Please understand me when I say that I don't have the words to say how bad I feel for everything that's happened. How sorry I am that you ended up believing those things. Words can't describe how bad I feel. But I'm sure this speaks louder than words."

She leaned forward, and pressed her lips against Spyro's. He recoiled with shock, before he closed his eyes, taking in the power of the kiss. Cynder quickly broke the kiss, pulling away from Spyro, whose knees were trembling. And then he wept, the power of Cynder's kiss pushing the last of his tears out of him. Cynder walked up to Spyro and wrapped her wings around him in a hug. Spyro collapsed in her wings, weeping heavily, drawing in sharp, wobbly breaths as he fought for air. Cynder looked over to the others watching her. Blazrak nodded with approval, and Aaron stood with his right shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, with a slight smile on his face. Cynder smiled back, and whispered to Spyro, "Let's go home. You need to rest." she said, and they stood up, turned, and left the Temple.

* * *

 **One of the reviewers by the name of 'HyperGamer25101' suggested banishment of some sort for Spyro, and while I do think it would be realistic, and I was also originally planning on it, I thought it was too cruel for a teenage dragon who was being pushed by dark forces beyond his control. I thought imprisonment would have worked better since he would have trained guards watching him, and he'd be around other dragons to keep him sane.**

 **[EDIT] I don't normally update these chapters like this, but after the original version was posted, there were a few people complaining about how I didn't do Spyro enough justice, saying that nine months was too short. So I changed it to twelve, adding another three months. I spent _ages_ trying to figure out something realistic for Spyro, and I do realise that 'Divine the Withered Soul' especially brought up a few good points as to why Spyro's original nine months was taking it a bit too easy. I didn't want to be too harsh on him though, as he has fallen into quite a heavy depression, as is evident by the amount of tears he shed in this one chapter and that'll also cause him a lot of suffering.**

 **Anyway, see you in the next chapter, whenever that may be.**


	49. Chapter 48: Unlikely Prisoners

**For those who haven't seen the update, I changed the length of Spyro's sentence to twelve months, because after a few reviews I read on last chapter, I realised nine months was taking it a little too easy on Spyro, despite the fact that he wasn't completely in his right mind. He was the only one who had committed full-on murder, and even more so, there were seven murders, with one of them being a child. So yeah, I think Spyro kind of deserved a little more time in prison than I originally had him in.**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', Cyril's punishment isn't because he doesn't like children. It's because of his ego. He's overly proud of his title and all he's achieved, and because of that, he can get a little irresponsible, which was exactly what happened, as he believed he could do whatever he wanted to and get away with it. And since being a father requires a lot of responsibility, I figured it'd be a good situation to throw Cyril into to get him to learn some responsibility. But yeah, I can't believe I've almost finished uploading this story. I'll probably take a break from _Spyro_ for a little while to get a few chapters of my _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fanfiction series up and running, but the five-part series will be up fairly soon, probably around late May or early June, depending on how quickly I get things done. Call it bias, but I think my other _Spyro_ fanfiction series is much, much better. I'm experimenting on lots of different things and playing with lots of different ideas, and probably every single one of them will be M at this point because of gore and violence, and perhaps some other stuff if required. But I'm much happier with my other fanfiction series, so stay tuned for that, I guess.**

 **To 'UNNES1000', since the time frame of the punishments are so vastly different, yes, there will be a lot more time skipping than usual, especially given how these first 48 chapters take place in about ten or so days. There's about eight chapters remaining, so _Broken Perceptions_ is almost done, and I wanted to put as much time as possible into what was going on during these punishment time frames. Cynder and Volteer were pretty chill and understanding about what they had to do in the last chapter, so I don't really focus on them, but I will focus more on Spyro, Icebreath, Terrador and Cyril, as they had the biggest reactions and have to deal with their punishments for slightly longer. Also, I'm not planning on doing crossovers in the near future. They're hard to do, and almost every single one of them turns out completely crappy. I have no ideas for any in the future, and I don't really plan on getting any. Especially with _Adventure Time_. I don't really like that show, and I know zip about it; only really watched two or three episodes, and I've never enjoyed it. That's just my opinion on the show, so don't get up at me pleeeez.**

 **Anyway, the first characters we're going to join with are Icebreath and Spyro. I'm quite happy with the second half of the chapter, and I think you'll know why once you read it.**

* * *

"Ancestors, it's weird being on this side of the bars…" Icebreath mumbled to himself. Blazrak had just left them, and he felt very awkward sitting inside the prison cell, staring out into the corridor in front of him and at the guards that stood outside the corridor. His cell was beside Spyro's and he could hear the eighteen-year-old's frightened sobs beside him. They escaped from behind the bars of his cell, and out into the open, and Icebreath's heart sank as Spyro wept. He had shed his fair share of tears already, yet he kept weeping. The situation was literally hell for Spyro, and Icebreath could not wish this upon anyone, let alone a mere teenager.

Icebreath remembered how innocent Spyro had been before Aaron appeared. Kind and caring, loving, and pure. Calm, collected, happy, and a good role model to many others his age and younger, including Shocker, who had died the day before because of Dark Spyro. But it had all changed. Icebreath knew it was Dark Spyro's fault, but he still blamed himself, nevertheless. He had been a bad role model to Spyro; he had been mean to others, angry and rude, and resorted to violence, especially when it came to Aaron. Normally, being a prison guard, he would have to be harsh on prisoners, but he had never acted the way he did to Aaron before, and he never should have resorted to pure scorn and abuse like he had with Aaron. Sure, he had been stressed out, and just wanted Aaron gone. The apes had given the dragons hell during the war, and Icebreath, with the thought of Aaron being an ape, decided he wanted to be as cruel as possible to Aaron to give him 'payback'. Icebreath's violent actions had played out on Spyro, and the purple dragon had let himself fall into the trap of violence and anger. While it would have been fine on Icebreath, it had a much, much worse outcome on Spyro. His anger and violent outbursts turned him into a demon. Icebreath remembered with a shudder the fear and horror he had experienced the day before. Crippling, life-sucking, and consuming.

 _I'm sorry._ Icebreath apologised silently, knowing that he had all too many times apologised for this even though he didn't need to. But he would never forgive himself for influencing Spyro negatively. He was just a young eighteen-year-old, who was still new to dragon society. He had spent the first thirteen years of his life believing he was a dragonfly, and then another three years stuck in the Time Crystal. In truth, he had only truly been a dragon for two, almost three years. He was still adjusting to life as a dragon, and Icebreath had ruined that for him. _I didn't mean to. I thought I was doing what was right, and I wasn't taking into account what my actions were doing to someone like you. Someone that had a demon inside him. Like you._

"Shut up…" Spyro's pitiful voice muttered from the cell beside him.

 _Wait… how can he hear me? I'm not even speaking._ Icebreath thought, screwing up his face with confusion.

"Please, be quiet! I… I don't want to listen to you!" Spyro muttered again, slightly louder this time. "No! I won't believe what you're saying! Go away!"

"Spyro, are you alright?" Icebreath asked, his heart rising in his throat. He swallowed hard, hearing Spyro's sobs get stronger and stronger, harder and harder. Icebreath tensed, not knowing what to expect.

"Stop it! Stop it, please! Get away from me!" Spyro cried, his voice high with fear, and loud sobs cut through the air.

Icebreath suddenly put together the pieces something Spyro said earlier echoed through his head. _Dark Spyro kept saying things in my head, and I didn't want to listen to him. But I believed him anyway. Please forgive me._

 _Dark Spyro._

"Spyro, don't listen to him!" Icebreath shouted out to the purple dragon, banging his fist on the wall of thick cobblestone.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Spyro spat back, before letting out a squeal of anguish. He paused to inhale, before he let out a loud scream of fear, and Icebreath felt bad for the purple dragon who was being tormented in the cell next to his. A loud thud was heard from behind the wall. Spyro shouted indistinctly, in short bursts as he slammed into the cobblestone walls. Five obvious words burst out of his mouth, in time with the loud thuds from his cell. "Get… out… of… my… head!"

One final slam, and Spyro let out a scream of pain, before bursting into heavy sobs. "You'll be fine, Spyro. You'll be fine – I'm here for you." Icebreath murmured. "I'll look after you, I promise."

Spyro's only reply was a loud wail as he continued sobbing, before breaking off into loud, heavy fits of coughing, and then his pitiful sobbing continued, the teenage dragon overcome by unbearable depression and fear.

 _I'm sorry._ Icebreath apologised again.

* * *

The day dragged on slowly, and the day slowly turned to night. Spyro had continued crying for most of the day, and ended up crying himself to sleep, and Icebreath just sat there, waiting for any cries in case Spyro needed him. He moaned and groaned in his sleep, the scrape of claws and scales on the cobblestone ground reaching Icebreath's ears as Spyro tossed and turned, but other than that, he remained generally undisturbed. Icebreath tried to do the same as the purple dragon, and sleep his worries away, but he was too anxious to sleep. He had just eaten dinner, which was a lousy deer flank. He felt bad for the prisoners now, knowing what they were going through. Normally he would be home now, and Voette would have prepared a delicious dinner for him and Frost of rich, juicy meat and delightful sauces and sides.

 _Voette._

The name hung tauntingly on his mind. His mate had died, he remembered. His mate had died to protect his child. Maimed brutally and murdered to a bloody, gory crisp by the claws of Dark Spyro. And his daughter had seen it _all_.

 _Frost._

Now her name joined Voette's. What would she think of him? Her father, who worked as a prison guard, had just been sent to prison. Sent to prison for horrible crimes. Assault. Shedding blood from an innocent prisoner that didn't deserve to be there. Judgement and rejection. Hosting an unauthorised event.

That event was an execution, Icebreath recalled. If it had been finished properly, Aaron would be dead in a bloody pulp, beheaded by Spyro. And he and Spyro would have been charged for murder. _He already has anyway…_ Icebreath suddenly reminded himself. _Four apes, a fox, my mate…_

 _And a child…_

Icebreath gagged at the last one. Shocker's very name haunted him. As long as he blamed himself for Dark Spyro's actions, Shocker's death would be forever etched into his mind. It was horrible. Brutal. Shocker had been in a world of hellish pain after that first convexity beam, and he was silenced in the most terrible fashion as he was hit in the chest with another convexity beam, stopping his heart. His face had remained in a silent scream of pain, his jaws gaping wide as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, eyes open wide and glassy yellow eyes filled with horror. Icebreath remembered Shocker had been friends with Spyro. _Friends_. Spyro had _killed_ his own friend.

 _No, it was Dark Spyro._ Icebreath reminded himself. _But it was also me. I was responsible for bringing Dark Spyro to the surface._

Blazrak's words echoed in his head. _You did_ let _it all happen, and as a result, Dark Spyro managed to kill not only four apes back in the Siege of Arriax, but a fox, an adult dragon, and a child._

Icebreath teared up. _Spyro let it happen. He didn't stop Dark Spyro. But I fuelled the fires…_ he thought, unsure what to think about the situation anymore. He suddenly came up with a solution.

 _We're both to blame._

With that, Icebreath burst into a pitiful display of tears. Everything had fallen apart within a couple of days, scarcely over a week. And as a result, Voette had died, leaving Frost without a mother. And Frost was without her biological father for three months, and he was stuck in prison for that time. Who knew how well Frost would take that? Who knew how well Frost would take being fathered by her uncle? Cyril, of all dragons. He had no experience in fathering. Sure, he had mentored, and led training sessions, but he had never had to take on the responsibilities of a father.

Blazrak's voice filled his head again. _You need to learn more responsibility. So we will put you on a different type of hard labour. Fathering._

 _He's doing this to learn. To learn responsibility._ Icebreath told himself, calming himself down and wiping the tears from his red eyes. _And perhaps I need to learn what it means to be a friend and a good role model._

 _That's why I'm here with Spyro._

 _I'm here to help him._

Icebreath sighed sadly. He missed Frost. He missed Voette. The thought of her name brought fresh tears streaming down his face, and he raised his head, and cried out in anguish to the spirits. "Why did you have to die?! Let me know where you are, Voette! Let me know if you're okay! If you're safe!" he cried, feeling heartbreak for the first time in his life, and hating every second of it. "Show me your face one more time! Please! I miss you! I'm so… I'm so lonely!"

"Calm down." a voice echoed around him. Soft. Feminine.

 _Voette._

"Where are you?! Show yourself to me! Please!" Icebreath howled, sniffling, his voice wobbly with emotion.

"I'm safe. I'm with the ancestors, Icebreath. They will look after me. I will miss you, too, my love, but I will be watching over you from the stars." Voette whispered.

"Please show yourself to me! I'm begging you!"

"Can you not remember what I look like?"

"Not without the blood. Not without the dismembered foreleg." Icebreath sobbed, the horrifying memories flooding back into his brain, and his sobs grew stronger and stronger until he had to fight for breath. "Not without the look of sheer horror and pain on your face."

"Think further back, Icebreath. My wounds don't carry on in the afterlife. My body may be broken and battered down there, but up here with the ancestors, my spirit is mended and whole. I'm what I used to look like. Think back a few nights ago. The last time you saw me before the battle."

Icebreath tried to think. He focused hard, trying to remove the bloody wounds from the body of his beloved. With a choking cry, he remembered. "You were so beautiful! Your lovely yellow scales, your captivating golden eyes!" he cried. "Show yourself to me again! I want to see them in person!"

"Do you not believe that I've been restored?" Voette asked, and Icebreath's heart sank by the tone of disbelief in her voice. "You called me beautiful. I'm still as beautiful here as I was back in Warfang. Why do you doubt what I tell you?"

Icebreath suddenly felt something on his cheek. Voette's lips. A spiritual kiss.

The ex-guard collapsed to the ground, pouring tears out of his eyes like a water fountain. He cried out indistinctly to Voette, his words a slurred mess of emotion, tears spilling down his face and into his mouth, but she only replied with three words.

"I love you."

And then her presence was gone. Icebreath cried for another thirty minutes straight, before eventually crying himself to sleep, like Spyro before him.

He slept badly that night. His dreams were haunted with blood and the dying screams of Voette and Shocker. He tried his hardest to focus on what Voette had said to him minutes earlier. _I'm still as beautiful here as I was back in Warfang._

Voette eventually disappeared from his nightmares as he fought them, but Shocker stayed, taunting him. The sight was horrific. Shocker's death was replayed over, and over, and over, and over again in Icebreath's mind, and unlike Voette's corpse and her perishing screams, he couldn't shut the vision out. He had witnessed Shocker's death in its entirety; he had only seen Voette's corpse. Shocker's death had been much more real to him, and he was filled with horror at the sight of the small, bloodied, yellow corpse.

Icebreath woke up with a gasp in the morning. Sunlight shone through the barred window in his cell. His nightmares had lasted all night. He shivered with fear, wiping his wet eyes. He looked around and tried to calm himself down. He tried to focus on what happened the night before.

Voette had been in here. She had been in here with him.

He yearned for her presence again, but he knew he would not be so lucky this time. He just had to remember, remember back to when times were good, and they were one big, happy family.

Icebreath looked in front of him and saw breakfast lying in front of him; another deer flank. This one had a leg attached to it, and Icebreath quietly thanked the ancestors, and Voette, for the extra meat. He devoured the raw meat quickly, before a hoarse voice arose from the cell next to him.

"General? Are you awake?" Spyro asked, his voice high and shaky.

"Call me Icebreath, Spyro. I no longer have my title for another three months, remember?" he said kindly.

Spyro didn't take it as Icebreath intended it. "Oh, sorry." he apologised, much like a child would if they were being scolded.

Frost appeared in Icebreath's head. _Don't think about her. She's safe with Cyril. Spyro's your priority now._ Icebreath thought.

"Are you alright?" Icebreath asked.

"No. I didn't sleep well last night." Spyro murmured.

"Neither did I. But keep your head held high and pull through. You can make it. I know you can. You're strong, but you just need to believe in yourself. You're stronger than you think you are."

There was silence, before a feeble reply came from the purple dragon's mouth.

"Thanks."


	50. Chapter 49: Victim of Fear

**I only managed to continue writing about two days ago. This past week has been really stressful, with two big Maths assignments due. I had to hand them in a day earlier, too, as I had an excursion the day they were due, meaning I couldn't work on them or hand them in on the day. The weekend was nice and calm after that, but I do have another assignment due at the end of the week, so ugh.**

 **Anyway, _Broken Perceptions_ just hit 30 000 views, so I'm really happy about that! I'm glad you're all enjoying it, and it pains me to say that it's coming to an end soon.**

 **To 'lord typhlosion', I'm glad it turned out quite heartfelt; that was the whole point of that chapter, to make Icebreath finally come clean with all he had done. There's a few more chapters like those coming, so prepare for a little more of that.**

 **To 'O', there is not a sequel for _Broken Perceptions_ being written. It seems that some people don't read the A/Ns, because I'm sure I've said this about three times already. It just doesn't seem necessary. A big problem with a lot of films, games and books these days is that the creators don't know when to stop, and they lose ideas quickly and the series just becomes bad. A sequel isn't necessary for _Broken Perceptions_ , so you will not be seeing these characters again. However, Spyro, Cynder, the guardians, and many of the other _Legend of Spyro_ characters will be returning, however, in the five-part series I'm writing that is completely unrelated to _Broken Perceptions_. If you stay up-to-date on my profile, you will have noticed that I update the section called 'My fanfictions', where I occasionally post info on my progress and other stuff on my fanfictions. I have finally released the collective name of the series, which will be called _Purple Legacy_. I'm not sure when Part 1 of _Purple Legacy_ will be coming out, but I can assure you, it will be out soon. I'm probably about half-way of what I have planned for Part 1, and I've written about 115 000 words of it, so these _Purple Legacy_ fanfics will be big and jam-packed with lots of action scenes for you (there are currently 13 chapters dedicated to action scenes out of the 37 chapters I've already written, so there's heaps waiting for you). I've also got a series of _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fanfictions in the works, too. They're old and very crappy, so they're not going to be anywhere _near_ as good as the _Purple Legacy_ series, but I think they have some good concepts. Anyway, I think I've been rambling on for too long about that topic, but to 'O', I hope that answers your question, and to anyone else who's been wondering what else I've been working on, there you go.**

 **This is a slightly shorter chapter (this feels so bad since it's only about 1500 words and I just wrote a 5000-word chapter for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1) so enjoy what you can. Next chapter's slightly longer, I believe, and much better. Sparx will also return next chapter.**

* * *

"Whoa, what a catch!" Prowlus exclaimed as Aaron and Hunter hauled a large moose into the Cheetah Village. "Who shot it?"

"Hunter did." Aaron said.

"Good job. Put it on the pile of kills, and would you be able to go and see Ulfitz?" the chief asked them.

"What? What happened?" Hunter asked.

"Since he returned from Warfang, he hasn't been himself. He's been pretty depressed and jumpy and distancing himself from everyone else."

"I've noticed that actually." Hunter murmured.

"No doubt what happened at Warfang." Aaron said to Hunter, before turning to Prowlus. "We'll go talk to him."

"Thank you. I hope my nephew's okay." Prowlus said gratefully.

"Nephew?" Aaron stopped. "I didn't know that he was your nephew!"

"We try to keep the topic undiscussed for… personal reasons. Now please, go check on him."

"Sure."

Aaron and Hunter hauled the moose on top of a large pile of prey that had been taken down, ready to be cooked and served for dinner that night, before turning and walking towards Ulfitz's house. Aaron walked up towards the door, and raised his fist to knock, but he saw a note on the front of the door. He grabbed it, scrunching up his face with confusion, and read it.

 _I'm so sorry. Due to the events that recently transpired at Warfang, I've been consumed by my fear. I haven't been able to sleep properly since the fight. Since I was wounded. Since the death. For the past four days since we returned, I've been anxious, unable to think about anything but violence, and what else could happen to us. I've hated feeling like that, and I've hated just being scared. Anxious. Frightened about everything. I never used to be._

 _I don't want to live like this anymore._

 _\- Ulfitz -_

Aaron gasped. He knew _exactly_ what was going on. Hunter just made a confused face as Aaron slammed open the door to Ulfitz's hut, running inside, calling his name. The hut was eerily silent. Hunter didn't know what to make of it. He decided to go with it, and began calling his name as he split off from Aaron, searching Ulfitz's hut.

Hunter turned the corner, and noticed that there was one door closed, when all the others weren't. Raising a shaky paw, he opened the door, and let out a scream. Aaron came running around to meet him, and jumped at what he saw.

Ulfitz lay slumped against the floor, his dagger sticking out of his chest, his paw still holding the dagger weakly. Dried blood ran from the wound, and it rolled down Ulfitz's furry body and pooled onto the wooden floor beneath him. "I thought this might have happened…" Aaron whispered.

"Why did this happen?" Hunter breathed, his voice shaky. "Haven't we dealt with enough death already? Drawn enough blood?"

"Questions like these can't be answered, Hunter." Aaron replied, eyes beginning to water. "We'll never know why this happened."

"Should we… should we report this to Prowlus?"

"Probably. We'll bring him the note as well."

And so they left the hut, and Aaron took down the note pinned on the front door.

They met up with Prowlus quite quickly, and the chief made a face at how soon they had returned, expecting them to have spent a while talking to Ulfitz. "Is… is Ulfitz alright?" the chief asked, tones of uncertainty evident in his voice.

Aaron handed Chief Prowlus the note, and his eyes widened with fear. "What does…?" he muttered, not wanting to know what had happened.

"He's dead, Prowlus. He killed himself." Hunter said, his voice low and croaky. "He couldn't deal with his fear of what happened at Warfang."

"I'm sorry." Aaron said sadly.

Prowlus flinched as Aaron spoke. His arms started shaking and the parchment in his paws started to rustle loudly. Aaron was afraid for a moment that Prowlus would blame him. After all, Dark Spyro's assault in Warfang only happened because of his existence in the Dragon Realms. Dark Spyro wouldn't have attacked had he not been there.

Hunter was thinking the same thing as he quickly spoke to Prowlus. "It wasn't Ulfitz's fault, Prowlus." he said. "Nor was it Aaron's, or mine, or anyone else's."

"You don't think I know that?" Prowlus deadpanned, turning angry, red, teary eyes towards Hunter. "Now go away and let me grieve in peace!"

With one last look at them, Prowlus turned and padded off, holding the note close to his chest, the parchment now crumpled up in his paws. Aaron and Hunter looked at each other, their expressions grim. Aaron's heart fell to see Prowlus like this.

Aaron turned as he heard a voice behind him. "Aaron, Hunter! I didn't realise you were back!" Archer cried, running up to them.

"Archer? Where'd you go? You completely disappeared from our sight when we left Arriax." Hunter said.

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to go home after the whole siege thing. I hated the battle. Too much blood. I guess I'll stay being a prey hunter and competing in the competitions; I'm not much of a warrior." Archer replied. "Please don't blame me for being a coward. And yes, I admit it."

Aaron scoffed. "I'm kinda glad he decided to run off if he thought he was a coward. Look at how Ulfitz went after the fight with Dark Spyro." Aaron said to Hunter, who nodded gravely.

"What happened to Ulfitz?"

"He… he killed himself. I don't know how long ago it happened."

Archer stood in silence, staring at Aaron with disbelief. He mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds before asking, "Is Horilith alright? Because I know they were…"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Horilith said, walking up to them. His eyes were red and teary, and his arms hung by his side, the hooks that had replaced his paws glistening in the harsh sunlight. "It happened last night. He wanted to talk to me, and I went to go get him a drink of water upon him asking me to. When I got back, I found the note on the door, and later, him, dead. I was going to tell you guys, and Prowlus, this morning, but I kind of forgot. I didn't want to do it that night. I was shocked, and tired, and wanted nothing more than to go to bed."

"Out of anyone, I was surprised it was _him_." Hunter murmured. "He was a strong warrior."

"Yeah. Does Prowlus know?" Horilith asked.

"He asked us to go check on him, and we found the note. And the body. We took the note to Prowlus and told him."

"I take it he didn't take it too well, then?"

"No."

They stood in silence.

"I'm sorry." Archer said, breaking the silence. "If I had come, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I was _too_ cowardly. I don't deserve to be called a cheetah. They're meant to be courageous… strong… That's not me."

"We can't change the past, but we can determine our future." Hunter replied. "If it means you learned your lesson and you need to face your fears, then good. And if it means you just provide us with food, then that's also good. As long as you're being productive and doing what's right for the Cheetah Village, then that's all that matters."

Archer stifled a chuckle. "Thanks." he replied.

Aaron groaned as he walked over to a small wooden bench and sat down on it. "Four days in the recovery process and this happens. And to Ulfitz, nonetheless… I hope the dragons are doing alright." he muttered.

"Especially Spyro. He was losing it completely four days ago." Hunter replied gravely. "I've never seen him shed that many tears… ever…"

* * *

 **I feel bad killing off Ulfitz like that. But there's worse stuff in _Purple Legacy_ , which is why it'll be M. Anyway, I'll see you soon, however long it takes to make the next chapter.**


	51. Chapter 50: I Should've Been Better

**I'm getting really busy with a lot of other stuff: school, YouTube, and making music; but I managed to write another 5000-word chapter for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, so I'm quite happy. I still can't believe I'm almost done _Broken Perceptions_.**

 **Alright, review time! To 'OO', _Purple Legacy_ will _not_ include any humans. It is a completely different universe to _Broken Perceptions_ , and therefore will have no human interaction whatsoever. I wanted to make these two as vastly different as possible, so _Purple Legacy_ will be one of those ones that is mainly dragons, although, like with the foxes in _Broken Perceptions_ , I'm going to be trying to include other creatures in it, although it's a much harder task than I originally thought due to how the story's running right now; I think I'll have to wait until the later parts of _Purple Legacy_ to add new species types. So it'd be great if you gave _Purple Legacy_ a go, even if it doesn't have any human interaction in it. As for one-shots, like I said with the sequel, it's really unnecessary for _Broken Perceptions_ and there's no room for them. One-shots are slightly easier to do, so I might do them for _Purple Legacy_ to explain some scenes more thoroughly, but I've closed _Broken Perceptions_ to a point as to where there's not really a way that sequels/one-shots can be done successfully, so there will be no one-shots based off _Broken Perceptions_. I'm sorry, for all you peeps that like _Spyro_ fanfics with human interaction, but it's just the way I've written this story that creates this 'problem'.**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', I actually did base Ulfitz's death on Sayori's death from _DDLC_ (that game's really clever and creative; love it a lot). The representation to Yuri as well was unintentional, though, but I'm glad you picked up Sayori. As for your question about Sparx in _Purple Legacy_ (lol), I've actually had him planned since the start, although he has quite minor appearances, especially in comparison to the length of the entire _Purple Legacy_ series. He's probably only going to have five scenes throughout the entire five-part series, probably more, probably less, depending on how I write it. I apologise if you do like Sparx scenes, but I seem to have more of a focus on the draconic characters and I find it hard to incorporate Sparx into them. Also, I'm crap at comedy, so Sparx would probably turn out pretty lame. But Sparx is in this chapter, though! Enjoy, I guess?**

 **To 'UNNES1000', while writing _Classic Spyro_ fanfics does seem interesting, I don't know anywhere _near_ enough of _Classic Spyro_ 's lore to be able to make a fanfic on it. I've played _Season of Ice_ and _Season of Flame_ and that's it (they're alright, but definitely not as good as the original trilogy; I want to play them, and _Reignited_ so bad but I don't have consoles that can run them – I only have a PC). _Legend of Spyro_ is where I'm at, and it's by far one of my favourite game franchises so far (even though I was introduced to Spyro due to _Skylanders_ , which _used_ to be good but has now taken a big spiral downhill), and it will remain one of my favourites for a very, very long time.**

 **Anyway, another lengthy A/N done, and another short chapter coming up. You're all going to enjoy _Purple Legacy_ because the chapters are much longer!**

* * *

Terrador flew over the swamp, a satchel hung over his shoulders with two important letters in them. One was to go to the small dragon town called Jargen, about an hour's flight from where the old, now decimated Dragon Temple was. Another was to go to the mole capital, Mrawgar.

He felt a sense of loss flying over the swamp. The ruins of the Dragon Temple lay underneath him, and the Silver River flowed next to it. He remembered the night when so many eggs had been destroyed, and Ignitus had put Spyro's egg in the Silver River, in hopes that it would be safe. Then he remembered Sparx. Volteer had told him the day before that Sparx had been in Warfang during Dark Spyro's attack, and he had fled in fear. Terrador felt bad for it. All the little dragonfly wanted was to see his foster brother for the first time in two years, and that had completely backfired on him.

Terrador needed to make sure Sparx was alright.

Taking a detour, Terrador lowered himself to the ground, and began to walk down the Silver River, looking around to find any sign of dragonflies. After about a minute of walking, he heard a gasp. He looked towards the sound, and saw an orange glow coming from behind a tree. "Hello?" Terrador said. "I won't hurt you. Please come out."

A young orange dragonfly, female, slowly made her way out from behind the tree, shivering with fear. "Hi, Mr Dragon. What… what do you want?" she asked.

Terrador swallowed a lump in his throat. "I want to talk with Sparx, foster brother of Spyro the Purple Dragon. Have you seen him?" Terrador asked, hoping that this young female dragon even knew Sparx.

"No. He hasn't come out to see anyone for a whole week. He left three days before to go and see his brother. When he got back, he hasn't wanted to talk to anyone, let alone see anyone." the dragonfly explained, her voice shaking with fear and awe at the massive dragon standing in front of her.

"Can you please try and fetch him for me? I want to talk to him."

The dragonfly nodded hastily, before turning and flying off, the buzz of her flapping wings growing fainter and fainter as she flew deeper into the swamp. Knowing that he might be sitting there for a while, Terrador sat down and began to ponder on his thoughts. Throughout the past week, he had been dealing with the change of lifestyle much better than he thought he would. He had even moved back in with his son for the time being, as he wanted to get to know him better, and he finally had the time to try and do so. He didn't have as much of a great relationship with Soilrouser as he had hoped; he barely knew his son at all. Some father he was…

Soilrouser had been strangely distant from him for the first three days, but after the fourth night, Soilrouser had opened up to him a little more. They had talked, and Terrador apologised for everything he had said to and about Soilrouser. He loved his son, but it came out in a way that seemed like discrimination. He was worried and protective, probably more than he should have been, and it had a negative effect on Soilrouser. Terrador never thought once about Soilrouser's emotions and wants, only for his safety and social acceptance, and had on the occasion let his frustration with the situation get the better of him. And after Terrador's confession about why he had done what he had done, Soilrouser had completely burst into tears, and Terrador finally got to have his first ever father-son bonding session in several decades, probably ever.

Just remembering that moment brought tears to Terrador's eyes. It was a beautiful moment for both him and Soilrouser, and they had spent the last six days repairing their relationship. He was finally glad he was taken down to a less important job. He had more time to think about things, and he finally got to mend his relationship with his son.

An annoyed grumble pulled Terrador out of his thoughts. "Who wants to talk to me so bad that I have to get pulled out of my room?" Sparx grumbled, flying up towards Terrador, with the orange dragonfly leading him. Sparx stopped at the sight of Terrador and frowned, crossing his arms.

Terrador averted his eyes from Sparx and breathed a heavy sigh. He looked back at Sparx, who stared at him, shaking his head with annoyance. The female dragonfly was nervous with the tension between them. "I might just, uh… leave you two alone…" she muttered, before whizzing off into the swamp again.

Terrador and Sparx stared at each other silently for what felt like hours, but had really only been seconds. Sparx opened his mouth. "What are _you_ doing here?" Sparx asked bitterly, crossing his arms. "I want nothing to do with dragons."

"Aren't you concerned even for Spyro?" Terrador asked.

"Spyro? That monster?! I _saw_ what he did to that child, Terrador! I _never left_ Warfang that day! I figured I should head back and see _why_ everyone was so flustered. I never got a good look at Spyro when he was chasing Volteer, Cyril, and the weird creature. I wanted to know what was going on, and why Spyro was so angry. I was concerned for him. But when I saw Spyro in his dark form, and what he _did_ , I suddenly realised that getting into dragons' problems is not something for dragonflies. We shouldn't even have anything to do with them." Sparx scowled, tears streaming from his eyes. He inhaled hoarsely, before spitting the next few sentences through gritted teeth. "To think that I used to live with that monster! To think that he was my _brother_! He's a _murderer_!"

"It's not his fault, Sparx." Terrador said before Sparx could get any further. "He can't control his actions when he's in his dark form. You should know that. Cynder told us what happened at the Well of Souls. You were there when he got corrupted. You should know that it wasn't his fault."

"I don't care! I don't want anything to do with him ever again!"

"He _hates_ himself, Sparx! He _hates_ what he's done! He _knows_ it wasn't his fault, yet he blames himself anyway!" Terrador shouted, causing Sparx to leap backwards with a yelp. He composed himself, before continuing, not even realise that his eyes were wet with the threat of tears. "I'm sure he wouldn't want his foster brother to think he's a monster, and that he hates himself. Think about Spyro and how he could be faring. How would _you_ feel if you just realised you killed someone, let alone a child?"

Sparx stammered unintelligently. "I don't know. Sorry beyond what words can say." Sparx said, shrugging. "Depressed, even."

" _Exactly._ " Terrador said. "Spyro's an emotional wreck. He's shed so many tears in the past few days, it's making us all worried."

Sparx looked at Terrador silently, before bursting into tears and flying into Terrador's chest as he wept. Terrador was shocked at the odd behavioural change from Sparx, but he couldn't blame him, given what he had witnessed the week before. "I should've looked out for him more. He was too vulnerable going out into the world like that. I should've been a better big brother!" he wept.

"I know how you feel." Terrador murmured, and Sparx lifted his face from Terrador's chest and looked up at him, red-eyed and confused. "I let my son down by the things I said. I should've been a better father to him."

Sparx continued to cry, re-burying his face into Terrador's chest. Terrador breathed softly, as the dragonfly's body wracked heavily with sobs. _He's still just a child, like Spyro._ Terrador thought. _He was always the weaker, lighter mind of all of us. We were all shocked by the crimes Dark Spyro committed. It's no surprise that Sparx is reacting this badly._

 _Why did they have to go through this at such a young age?_

Terrador didn't have the answer. Tears pricked his eyes, and he turned his thoughts to Spyro. _He must be going through hell right now. Going to prison for a_ whole year _, for something he didn't do in his right mind. Oh, Spyro, I hope you're alright. I hope you make it through this hell you're going through._

Terrador and Sparx remained in the embrace for a few more minutes before Sparx pulled away from the earth dragon, wiping his eyes. "Sorry, Terrador." Sparx murmured.

"It's alright, Sparx." Terrador replied, his voice croaky as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"How's Spyro?"

"In pain. Emotional pain. That's my guess. I don't know; I haven't seen him for a week."

"Has he locked himself away? Like I did?"

"He's in prison."

That hit Sparx hard. He stammered unintelligibly, wiping his red, watery eyes again, sniffling, before muttering, "Oh… okay…"

Terrador and Sparx stared at each other in dead silence for a few moments. Sparx broke the silence. "Well, tell Spyro that I hope he's okay." Sparx said. "Bye."

And with that, the little golden dragonfly flew off, head low and gaze downcast. Terrador sighed, raising his haunches off the ground before taking to the skies. He needed to get a move on with his job. He thought back to everything that had been said in his conversation with Sparx as he flew for another hour.

 _I hope Spyro gets better. I hope Sparx does, too, but mainly Spyro. I should visit him sometime…_ he thought, as his destination came into his sight.

* * *

 **This may have been too serious for a Sparx scene… I'm sorry I suck at comedy… and not sorry that Sparx saw what Dark Spyro did. Sparx will return once again in three chapters' time, so look out!**


	52. Chapter 51: Makeshift Father

**Ah, I haven't had much spare time to write. This Art assignment's been a big annoyance recently, but it's finally over. Now I've got IPT to focus on, and it's going to require a lot of attention once I get to the coding stage, so yippee…**

 **Anyway, _Purple Legacy_ Part 1's turning out pretty well. Like I've said, it's quite dark and gory, and I just wrote a pretty detailed torture segment, so yeet.**

 **Anyway, to 'Derick Lindsey', I agree with you with Sparx on that note. Being a character only for comic relief makes Sparx seem hollow in some stories, so I guess it was a good move doing something more serious and emotional with him. You're also right in that Cyril and Frost will be the focus of this chapter, and I'm pretty happy with it. We've got about two more chapters of the punishment segments left, and the last two chapters will be wrapping up everything before the Epilogue, which is so crappy I think it needs a complete rewrite.**

 **So dang, there's about five chapters left. Shocking how quickly this has gone. After this, I'll see if I can get some work done on my _FNAF_ fanfictions before I move onto _Purple Legacy_ , but if that's taking too long, I'll make a start on _Purple Legacy_.**

 **Anyway, onto the story!**

* * *

Four weeks passed. Volteer and Terrador had returned to their normal jobs as guardians, and Cynder had returned to her normal life. Cyril still had two months to go until he could join Volteer and Terrador as a guardian. It was an understatement to say that he was jealous of them, but realisation would always come that he had a very important job to do, one that he couldn't ignore. He was looking after Frost, Icebreath's daughter. His niece.

He had had a lot of explaining to do. Why Icebreath wasn't going to be able to spend time with her for three months, and why Voette, her mother, was never coming back at all. It pained Cyril so much to explain it all. He didn't want to be the one to break it to Frost what was happening, and to have to explain to a four-year-old the concept of death and imprisonment. For the first three weeks of Cyril's new task of taking care of Frost, he and Frost had argued a lot. Frost hated him. She blamed him for everything. Her father's imprisonment, and her mother's death. Every night she cried herself to sleep. For the first three days, she had kept asking Cyril to get Voette to tell her a bedtime story, and he had to remind her that Voette was dead. Then she had started asking _Cyril_ to tell her stories. He kept shying out of it; he had no idea how to tell a bedtime story; his parents never told him any, and even if they did, he couldn't remember a thing of what they were like. What was he supposed to tell her? All the stories he knew were filled with war and violence and death, nothing suitable for a young four-year-old hatchling. Sure, she was born during the war with Malefor, but she was well hidden and kept safe, and she would have been too young to remember any details. And was Cyril supposed to make something up? What would the stories be about? He had no clue what to do. He had finally given into Frost's endless begging to tell her a bedtime story, and tried his hardest to think of something appropriate for the four-year-old. But barely two minutes through the story, she had gotten angry at him, yelling at him that it wasn't right. That it wasn't how her mother told it.

Frost had gotten slightly more tolerant of her uncle in the past two weeks, but she still didn't like him. Cyril had visited Icebreath yesterday to ask him for advice on the things Frost liked, but Icebreath only gave him half of an explanation on what stories Frost liked. Spyro had woken up from a nap immediately, and was in a mental breakdown, and Icebreath had to stop and turn his attention to Spyro. But Cyril couldn't say he didn't learn anything. He had gotten an idea of what bedtime stories to tell Frost, and after three days of asking the four-year-old, she had helped him improve, taking him through the steps and even telling him one of the stories Voette had told her. He had learned from Icebreath that day how to soothe someone down during a mental breakdown. Although, Spyro was a dragon in his late teens, and Frost was a young toddler. They were very different, but Cyril tried to transition some of what he had learned from Cyril yesterday into looking after Frost.

Right now, he was supervising Frost as she played outside the outskirts of Warfang, running around in the silky grass with some of her friends. He sat next to the mother of one of Frost's friends. Cyril was snapped out of his thoughts of the past five, almost six weeks as the dragoness next to him spoke. "They're wild ones, aren't they?" she asked, her voice soft and warm.

Cyril stammered unintelligibly, before replying, "Uh… yeah…" he muttered, cringing at how awkward he sounded.

He looked beside him towards the dragoness. She was an astoundingly beautiful fire dragoness, with striking orange eyes and vibrant red scales. Her chest was streaked with yellow, and her horns were large and shot out the back of her head, before curving around wildly into an almost vertical position. He suddenly averted his eyes once the dragoness turned to him, noticing he was staring. _I'm two hundred and fifty-six… surely, I'm too old to be looking for a mate. And she's a mother. She'd already have a mate._ Cyril thought scornfully.

The dragoness took it much better than Cyril thought she would. "I'm quite a sight, aren't I? My friends were always jealous of me." she said with a chuckle. She quickly changed the subject. "You're doing well, looking after your niece."

Cyril scoffed. Word travelled quickly around Warfang, and almost everyone knew why Cyril was spending so much time with Frost. "It's hard." Cyril said. "I miss my old job; my old _life_ as a matter of fact."

"You'll get back to it soon enough, Cyril." the dragoness replied. "But of course being a parent is hard, even if you're just taking your brother's place for three months. I don't know how you thought it would be easy. Especially for someone as lively as Frost."

Cyril couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, she's quite wild. I thought this would be easy, but now…" he said, before frowning.

"Don't feel too bad. You're doing well. Just look at Frost." she said, and Cyril did so.

Frost leapt at her friend, a young fire dragoness, with the same striking appearance as her mother, the dragoness that sat next to Cyril, and burst out with squeals of laughter. "I got you! You're it!" Frost cried.

"I'll get you for that, Frost!" the young fire dragoness chuckled, lowering her torso to the ground and wriggling her rump around as she tensed, before leaping at Frost, and they chased each other around in the grass.

"Yay! We're safe!" another young dragoness, bearing the ice element like Frost, cried, as Frost and the young fire dragoness ran off and away from her and two other electric dragonesses, that were hiding behind trees, like the ice dragoness that had cheered out.

The fire dragoness turned around and let out a playful growl. "I'm not sure about that! I'm gonna get you!" she shouted, and the three dragonesses let out playful squeals of fear before darting off in separate directions, laughing and hollering loudly.

Cyril couldn't help but smile at Frost and her friends. He couldn't remember his childhood, but he was sure it would have been filled with games of all sorts as well. A longing tear slipped from his eye. "You alright?" the dragoness next to him asked.

He jumped, not expecting the dragoness to speak again, and quickly wiped his eye, not wanting to show any weakness. "Yeah." he said quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They sat in silence for a while, watching the children play, before the dragoness spoke up again. "Have you thought about finding a mate?" she asked.

Taken off guard by the question, Cyril stammered wordlessly yet again, hating himself for the lacklustre behaviour he was showing to the beautiful dragoness sitting next to him. He composed himself and replied, "I've always thought I'd passed that age."

"How old are you? In your two hundreds, I'd assume." the dragoness said.

"Yeah, two hundred and fifty-six."

"You're still quite young. Most dragons don't take up mates until the age of one hundred, usually one hundred and fifty, although they do tend to do it earlier these days. It's not unusual for two-hundred-and-fifty-year-olds like you to be looking for someone. I've heard of four-hundred-year-olds who only begin searching for a mate at that age."

"Oh… well… okay…" Cyril said, shrugging and wincing awkwardly. Was she asking him out? Where was this going?

"I'm not asking you about me; I have a mate." she clarified, guessing the reason behind Cyril's discomfort. "But it might be beneficial for you to find that special someone." the dragoness said with a wink that made Cyril's stomach turn inside out.

Cyril shrugged. "I don't know." he muttered, looking away from the dragoness, wanting the awkward conversation to end.

The dragoness was gracious enough to end the conversation at that, and they continued to sit and watch the children play in the long, silky grass.

A long time passed before the sound of flapping wings was heard from behind them. Cyril turned around to see Soilrouser landing next to them, sitting down next to Cyril. "Soilrouser? What are you doing here?" Cyril asked.

"I just wanted to say 'hi' to my father's friend. I can do that, can't I?" the skinny earth dragon replied playfully.

"Sorry." Cyril replied.

"So how's life been?" Soilrouser asked.

"Alright, I guess. This whole thing's been hard."

"You've learned your lesson, haven't you? That's what this whole thing was about."

"I heard Terrador moved back out." Cyril said uncomfortably, wanting to change the subject from him.

"Yeah. It's not that bad, but it was really good to have Terrador back home with me. It was very beneficial for us; we bonded a lot over the past five weeks. We're a lot closer than we ever were."

"That's good."

"How are you going with your niece?"

"Alright, I guess."

The dragoness beside Cyril barked with laughter. "Alright? I think you're doing much better than you think you are. You just don't want to believe it." she said.

Cyril turned to the dragoness, then back to Soilrouser. Soilrouser's eyes were open wide. "Don't ask me, listen to her. I'm guessing she's the mother of one of those little rascals?" he said.

The dragoness mumbled in confirmation. "Anyway, I'd better go." Soilrouser said, pawing the ground. "I just wanted to see how you were going. I've got a date to prepare for. Terrador managed to hook me up with someone a week ago, and I think she really likes me, which is a first, thanks to how scrawny and elementally unstable I am."

"Alright. Good luck, then." Cyril said, as Soilrouser turned and flew off.

The dragoness punched Cyril in the shoulder as Soilrouser left. He hissed with pain; she could punch, that's for sure! "You should do what he's doing! He's only in his eighties and he's a step ahead of you." she chuckled.

"Enough about that subject! Please!" Cyril scowled, getting uncomfortable.

He didn't think he was ready to have a mate yet. But he was glad that he was learning from this experience. Fathering Frost had taught him a lot. It would prepare him a lot for life, and he thought he was getting much more responsible. He thought back to when he used to argue with Volteer a lot. He smirked. _I'm so much more mature and responsible now._ Cyril thought. _I should probably make it up to Volteer at some point._

He remembered back five weeks ago to something Blazrak had told him and the other guardians when they had broken into a full-on argument. _You're at about the age where we stopped arguing with each other and getting along! Volteer and Cyril have had problems since you became guardians at a hundred years old, but that doesn't explain_ this _!_

 _I guess we've learned. That time has come for us, now._ Cyril thought, smiling.

Very soon, his problems would all be over, and he would be a much better dragon. He turned to watch Frost play and wrestle in the grass with her friends. _Thank you, Frost._ he said silently.

* * *

 **He he, it was fun to make Cyril a little uncomfortable there. :P**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	53. Chapter 52: Brothers

**Well, I got no reviews on the last chapter… haven't had that since Chapter 9 or so. But anyway, I'm guessing you all enjoyed the last chapter, and I think you'll enjoy this one, too. Once again, I joined two chapters together because together they were both kinda short, and they blend well together.**

 **Also, for those wondering, I've just written a rather morbid torture scene for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, so eeeh… But I'm happy with it; _Purple Legacy_ is turning out great. Also, the _FNAF_ fanfic series should be getting started pretty soon since _Broken Perceptions_ is almost finished, so stay tuned for some different stuff. Like the games, the _FNAF_ series are going to be Horror genres, although I do the horror segments much better in _Purple Legacy_ (that one will be Horror, too).**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter, I guess.**

* * *

Another three months passed. Cyril and General Icebreath had returned to their regular lives a month ago, but Cyril had gotten pretty close to Frost, so he visited her and General Icebreath every once in a while, which was about twice a week. General Icebreath was happy that Frost was still her normal happy self, and he was happy that Cyril had kept her in good condition. He was so happy to be back in his normal life, but he felt terrible leaving Spyro alone. True, he was still going to be in the prison most days, but he wasn't going to be able to be there for the hurting purple dragon all the time, and now that he was working as a guard, he had to do his job _properly_. He hated it, but he knew in his heart that Spyro was going to be okay for the nine months he was going to be left alone for. Spyro had eight months of his imprisonment left, and General Icebreath thought he was doing really well by himself for the month he had been alone so far.

Spyro had had only two mental breakdowns in the month so far, one of which General Icebreath had been there for, so he had helped return Spyro from his state of depression. It was a minor breakdown, too, so it was over quite quick. The guards had been there for his other one, which was Spyro's worst one yet, and they had completely freaked out. One of the guards had run off in a terrified frenzy to fetch General Icebreath. General Icebreath had been told that Dark Spyro was fighting for control again, and he was almost at the surface, and he had run off to see if Spyro was alright, and luckily, he was. Sort of. Spyro had been reduced to a sobbing, blubbering mess, and the guards were sweating and breathing heavily with fear. Spyro had been covered in bloody cuts when General Icebreath had got there, and General Icebreath learned later that Spyro had broken free from Dark Spyro's hold by attacking himself. Every once in a while, Spyro would wake up with more cuts on his body, and Icebreath's heart sunk every time the purple dragon got a new cut. Sometimes, Spyro would do it to stop Dark Spyro, but other times, which was most of the time now, he cut himself to distract himself from his emotional pain. There had been several times where either he or some of the guards had to stop Spyro from drawing too much of his own blood. Despite being prison guards, General Icebreath wanted everyone to make sure Spyro was safe, as his crimes were committed against his will. Even three months after the Dark Spyro incident, General Icebreath _still_ blamed himself for all that happened; he didn't think he would ever forgive himself.

General Icebreath had gone to check on Spyro this morning as soon as he walked into the prison. It had been two days since he last checked on Spyro; yesterday he had to deal with a freshly caught criminal, and he didn't get time to check on the young, depressed purple. A long bloody cut ran down Spyro's left forearm. Fresh. And large. Spyro was currently an emotional wreck, having a conversation out loud to no one in particular. _No, it's Dark Spyro._ General Icebreath corrected himself in his mind, remembering what Spyro had said a few months earlier; the phrase that had repeated itself in General Icebreath's head over and over for the past few months.

 _Dark Spyro kept saying things in my head, and I didn't want to listen to him. But I believed him anyway. Please forgive me._

"No. I won't listen to you. I won't give in again. Stop! Get out of my head!" the purple dragon whimpered, his body shaking with his sobs and tears flooding down his face. "No, they're just trying to help me! I'm in here for a reason!"

Spyro groaned with pain, before cursing violently. "Fight him, Spyro. Fight him! I'm right here for you." General Icebreath said. "You're not alone. I believe in you."

Spyro brought in a shuddering breath and let out a loud howl of pain, before raising his left claw. He raked another long cut down his right forearm this time, and immediately, his head turned black and his eyes glowed white for a short time as Dark Spyro forced a roar of pain through Spyro's body. Spyro fought back, and his head returned to the normal, vibrant purple colour, and his eyes returned to the watery violet colour they once were. Spyro groaned in pain, gritting his teeth and forcing tears from his eyes. "It hurts. It hurts _so much_!" Spyro cried through his gritted fangs, raking his claws down his forearm once more. "No, I won't let you! I won't let you to the surface! Get out of my head, demon! _Get out_!"

Dark Spyro's voice echoed in the air around Spyro. This time, General Icebreath could _actually hear_ the dark alter ego talking to Spyro. "Attack that icy fiend in front of you. Get out of here. Kill him. You just want to get out of this hellhole, don't you, Spyro?" Dark Spyro asked with a snicker.

"No. No!" Spyro whimpered.

"Let me in, Spyro!" Dark Spyro hissed, before raising his voice in a distorted roar that made General Icebreath flinch as Spyro's scales flashed black for a second. " _Let me in_!"

"GET OUT!" Spyro howled, long and loud, his face contorting into a savage snarl, immense amounts of saliva dripping from his jaws, dripping down his chin.

With a loud screech, Spyro collapsed, still shaking and sobbing as hard as ever. He lifted his head, slowly, but painfully. "Is he gone?" General Icebreath asked.

Spyro nodded, before coughing violently, spitting up phlegm, and bursting into tears. General Icebreath's heart sunk for the dragon. He was only eighteen. The poor dragon shouldn't have to live with a dark alter ego at such a young age. In fact, a dragon should _never_ have to deal with a dark alter ego. It hurt General Icebreath to see a dragon this depressed. Sure, depression was a common thing in teenagers, but he had never seen it to this degree. Or perhaps he hadn't seen enough of it. Sure, he was depressed himself when he was fifteen or sixteen, but Spyro was in a much worse condition. General Icebreath only had to deal with bullies as a child. He only had to worry about what others thought of him. Spyro was dealing with a demon inside him. He worried every day about what would happen if Dark Spyro broke free again, and who would get hurt, and who would get killed, and when he was released from prison, who would see him as a monster, and if Dark Spyro would be able to get out to the surface even easier now that he had done it twice. Cynder had told General Icebreath what had happened in the Well of Souls, as well as the guardians and elders, and to know that Spyro had been dealing with this since the young age of thirteen, made General Icebreath feel even worse for the purple dragon.

Loud, frantic footsteps came from beside him as Cynder ran down the corridor, breathing heavily. "What's wrong? I came to visit Spyro and suddenly I heard him screaming!" she cried, turning to look at Spyro, seeing blood all over his body. Blood that Spyro himself had drawn. But Cynder didn't see it like that. "What have you done to him? Why would you hurt him knowing he's _already_ hurting?"

"I didn't!" General Icebreath replied. "Honest, I swear!"

"Damn you, General! I know what you did to Aaron! If you did it to Spyro, I will have your horns!" Cynder scowled, saliva spraying from her lips.

"I swear to the ancestors above that I didn't do anything to him!" General Icebreath howled, his face going red with rage and fear. "I swear to _Voette_ that I didn't do anything to him! I've been with Spyro in that hellhole for three whole months, Cynder! Do you think after seeing him battle it out with Dark Spyro on his own for three months that I would do _that_ to him?!"

Cynder opened her mouth and took a hoarse breath, but stopped, closed her maw, and looked over at Spyro, a sobbing mess, head down on the ground as heavy sobs wracked his body. Quite quickly, his breathing slowed down, and he stopped crying. His eyes were closed, and his flanks rose and fell slowly with each breath. He was asleep.

" _He_ cut himself, Cynder." General Icebreath said with a trembling voice, swallowing a lump in is throat. "There's no way in hell that I would _ever_ hurt Spyro after what happened with that demon inside him."

Cynder nodded quickly, tears pricking her eyes. "I know. I know." she said, breathing heavily. "I just didn't want to believe that… I didn't want to…"

She couldn't think of the words she was trying to say. She burst into tears and walked towards General Icebreath, burying her face in his chest and cried to her heart's content. "I'm sorry." she whimpered, her voice muffled by his chest.

"I know." General Icebreath mumbled, his voice rumbling in Cynder's ears, as she was enveloped in General Icebreath's wings.

After a while, she struggled out of the embrace, staring at General Icebreath with red eyes. "I'm sorry. I-I-I didn't mean to…"

"I know." General Icebreath replied again. "It's alright. Don't feel scared around me, please. I know we started off on the wrong paw, and… I think it's time we made it up to each other. Some other time and place would be better, of course."

Cynder nodded quickly, sniffling, wiping her eyes dry. "Come get me when Spyro wakes up, please." Cynder muttered, before turning and walking away.

General Icebreath watched her as she walked away. He looked back to Spyro, who tossed in his sleep, groaning. Suddenly, he stopped, and sighed, a smile making its way onto his face. It was the first time General Icebreath had seen Spyro smile since Aaron appeared in the Dragon Realms. Well, he _had_ seen Spyro smile, but they were all nasty and filled with malice, no doubt Dark Spyro's doing. This smile was legitimate. General Icebreath wondered what Spyro was dreaming of.

"That's not for you to know." a voice whispered in his ear. Voette. "He'll tell you if he wants to."

"I know." General Icebreath replied, tears pricking his eyes at the sound of her voice.

"Now go. Return to your job. Return to your life." Voette whispered.

"Thanks." General Icebreath said, turning and letting Spyro sleep in peace.

"Are you alright?" a guard asked him as General Icebreath walked out of the prison room Spyro was in.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can't say the same with Spyro, but he's making progress." General Icebreath said, looking back in the direction he came from. "Dark Spyro's fighting hard as ever, but Spyro's learning to fight him. His future will be bright, I know that for a fact."

* * *

Spyro opened his eyes. Bright green light entered his vision. He looked around, standing up, and saw that he was in the swamp. Confused, he padded over to a small pool beside him to look into it, and his eyes widened upon seeing his reflection. He was small, and young. He was ten years old. He _felt_ ten years old.

He stomped his paw gently on the ground. It felt real. The grass crunched under his paws, and the little purple dragon scrunched his face up with confusion. "What are you doing?" a voice called behind him.

Spyro jumped, whirling around with an embarrassing high-pitched yelp, and he blushed. Laughter burst from the source of the voice, and Spyro rolled his eyes when he saw it was Sparx, significantly younger as well. They were both young. _Ten years old._ Spyro thought.

"Alright, Sparx, that's enough. What do you want?" Spyro asked annoyingly, his voice higher than he remembered.

"You seriously don't remember, Spyro? We were playing tag." Sparx said as if it was obvious.

"I… I, uh…" Spyro stammered.

Suddenly, Sparx whizzed forward and tapped Spyro on the snout. "You're it!" Sparx shouted, before flying off into the swamp, laughing wildly. Spyro felt a childish urge flood over him, and a smile tugged his lips, the action unfamiliar to him after all this time. A laugh welled up in his chest, before he ran after Sparx, the laughter suddenly bursting from his jaws, a wide smile pulling his lips back, revealing little rounded teeth. Spyro hadn't felt like this in _years_. Since the war overtook his life, he had been focused on more depressing, intense thoughts, and then he was figuring out what it meant to be a dragon, as well as going through puberty and his later teenage years. He caught up with Sparx, and let out a playful growl, tackling the golden dragonfly to the ground. Sparx looked back and let out a scream, but was quickly interrupted by huge bursts of laughter. "Tag!" Spyro shouted, before getting off his foster brother and running off.

Spyro and Sparx chased each other around the swamp for who knows how long. The sun had begun to set, and the sky was a vibrant orange, so Spyro figured they'd been playing for several hours. How they still had the energy to run (or fly, in Sparx's case), Spyro didn't know. But his foster parents had always told him that he was an energetic little child, despite Sparx's constant nagging about how 'fat' he was.

"It's getting dark. We should probably go home." Sparx said. "Mum and Dad will be wondering where we are."

Caught up in the moment, Spyro nodded. "You're right, let's go." he said, and they both walked off into the swamp towards home.

Barely a few seconds later, Spyro's vision started getting fuzzy as his head spun. _What's going on?_ he thought, his heart rising in his chest. He felt he was going to faint. The last time he had fainted out of the blue was when the Chronicler used to contact him. _How do I know this stuff? Who's the Chronicler?_ Spyro suddenly thought, the memories of the war mingling with the childish body and mind of the ten-year-old. Spyro actually felt as if he was ten, and as if the war hadn't happened to him yet. _War? What war?_ Spyro pushed the thoughts away. He wanted to get back home. This felt unnatural. He didn't like it. Was Dark Spyro tempting him again? Trying to woo him in, only to take full control and murder the real Spyro? _Stop thinking like that._

Spyro shook his head savagely, hoping the strange feeling would end. But the violent shaking of his head made it worse. He looked at Sparx, and gasped when he saw how awkwardly the little dragonfly was moving through the air. Suddenly, Sparx fell, and through his darkening, starry vision, Spyro only just saw the dragonfly lose air. Spyro lunged forward, paw outstretched, as Sparx landed in Spyro's paw with a small thud. Spyro hid the ground hard, and his vision went black.

But he was still awake. His eyes were open. He felt as if he was floating; his paws hung loosely underneath his body, and there was no ground underneath them. "What's going on?" he asked to no one in particular, and jumped at the sound of his voice. It was deep again. He felt different. He felt eighteen again; big, pubescent, and… terrified… depressed.

"Spyro? Is that you?" a voice asked.

"Who is it?" Spyro called through the darkness.

"It's Sparx!" the voice replied. Of course. The voice sounded the same as the Sparx from earlier, but deeper. He would have hit puberty as well. Spyro slapped himself mentally.

"Where are you, Sparx?" Spyro asked, turning his head around to try and see through the darkness.

"Right here." Sparx replied, and Spyro turned around and saw the golden glowing dragonfly right in front of his face. Spyro leapt back with a yelp, floating freely through the empty void.

Spyro recomposed himself, and looked around. He could see himself now, bright purple scales with scars covering his body. Scars that he had created. But he and Sparx were surrounded in black nothingness. Floating in the middle of nowhere. "Where are we?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know. Am I dreaming?" Sparx questioned. "Last thing I remember was falling asleep."

"Maybe. I'm asleep right now. Could it be possible that we're sharing dreams?"

"I didn't know that _was_ possible. Let alone between two different species."

Spyro shrugged, the action awkward with no ground underneath his paws. He looked around again, sniffing the air awkwardly. There was silence for a while, until Sparx broke it. "Hey, are you alright?" Sparx asked, flying towards Spyro.

"Yeah, why?" the purple dragon replied.

"No. Are you _alright_?" Sparx asked, flying towards his scarred legs and placing a tiny hand on one of the scars. Spyro winced in pain, pulling his scarred limb away from Sparx's gentle touch. "Those scars are fresh. I've been with you long enough to know what a fresh scar looks like. You would always crawl through sharp thorn bushes as a kid and come back with blood and scars on you. And that bloody war wasn't any different. You made it out of a battle with many a scar."

"I'm fine, I guess." Spyro said, shrugging again.

"Tell me the _truth_ , Spyro. There's no hiding anything; I _saw_ what you… what Dark Spyro did." Sparx said, and upon hearing Sparx's confirmation, Spyro hung his head low and closed his eyes, tears pricking them. "I don't blame you, please understand that. It wasn't your fault. I was there when Dark Spyro was born. I _know_ it wasn't your fault. I _know_ you can't control it."

"But I killed…"

"No. No, you didn't. It was Dark Spyro."

"I killed four others! Four apes! They've changed! I know they have, from how they acted when we attacked them! But I still killed them! They're sentient beings now; they can think for themselves! I saw it all with my own eyes, but I refused to believe that they were different from what they were, and I fricking killed them!"

"Then Dark Spyro was _influencing_ your actions. Listen, Spyro. I… I-I-I blamed you for a while as well, but I had a talk with Terrador. It's not your fault, and I'm sorry you had to go through this. M-m-maybe this is the reason why we're sharing a dream right now. So I could apologise for blaming you. So I could apologise for not being a good big brother. All I ever did was tease you, and I-I-I never realised how much of an impact that may have. Sure, you dealt with it, but in the long run, I put you down, and those feelings, combined with all this hurt… culminated into…"

Sparx didn't know how to finish, so he pointed at Spyro's scarred limbs. Scars that the purple dragon had put on his body. Spyro didn't know what to say to that. Spyro had never heard Sparx be this… intimate. The last time he had been this serious and sincere was when he had made Cynder promise to make sure Spyro was safe. Two years ago.

Spyro felt tears prick his eyes, and he couldn't hold them back. He hated looking like this in front of Sparx. He always tried to look like he had it together in front of Sparx; the little golden dragonfly used to get scared so much during the war. Spyro had always been the one who had it together, to be strong for Sparx. But now he was breaking down in front of Sparx for the first time in a long, long time, probably the first time ever. "I'm sorry." Spyro murmured through his sobbing.

"Dude, don't be. It's alright." Sparx breathed, and Spyro closed his eyes as the tears streamed from them.

Spyro suddenly felt something on his snout. He opened his eyes and looked at his nose. Sparx was hugging him the best he could, lying on his snout with his arms wrapped around the length of it. Spyro let out a pitiful whimper before he resumed crying. He felt Sparx shaking on his snout, and before long, he realised that Sparx was crying too.

 _How pathetic do we look?_ Spyro thought. _Two eighteen-year-olds, bawling their eyes out. I'm just glad no one's here to see this._

Spyro and Sparx stayed in the embrace, crying for several minutes, before Sparx pulled away and wiped his eyes. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Spyro. There's no need to. You've got friends who love you. I know _Cynder_ loves you." Sparx said with a trembling voice, hesitating before finishing his line of thought. " _I_ love you."

Spyro was shocked at this. "You've _never_ said that to me." Spyro said. " _Ever_."

"And I _should've_. With the amount of times _you_ kept telling me that, I should have at least said it back to you _once_. I was just worried about being the cool one. I'm sorry. I should have been better. I could've been a better big brother for you." Sparx replied.

"You always called me fat." Spyro said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "If anything, _I'm_ the bigger brother."

"I hatched first!" Sparx snapped, and they stared at each other before bursting into laughter. Spyro felt so good. He hadn't laughed whole-heartedly in ages.

"Thank you for that." Spyro said. "I needed it."

"It's the best I could do. I'm your brother, after all." Sparx said, smiling.

Spyro felt his eyes began to close slowly. His vision darkened, and Sparx began to disappear from his view. "Bye, Sparx. And thank you!" Spyro said.

"I love you." was the reply.

Spyro opened his eyes. He was back in his prison cell. His lips hurt. Had he been smiling in his sleep? So the dream _was_ real. He really _had_ met Sparx in his dream. He stood up, feeling better than he had in a long time. He walked towards the door and looked out the bars for the first time in four months. What was it like outside? What did Warfang look like?

What did Cynder and the guardians look like? He couldn't remember.

"You're awake." a voice startled him from his thoughts.

Spyro jumped, and sighed when he saw it was only General Icebreath. He smiled, his lips parting to show pale yellow teeth. "Hi." Spyro said, before faltering, not thinking he should be smiling to the leader of the prison guards, the one keeping him captive.

"No, please smile." General Icebreath said. "I haven't seen you smile legitimately in a long time."

Spyro returned a slight smile, but not as big as before. "You were smiling in your sleep." General Icebreath continued. "What were you dreaming about?"

"My brother." Spyro replied, the smile still on his face. "I think we shared a dream. Oh, how I've missed him. It was so good to see him again, talk to him again. We even relived a time of our lives when we were younger, before I got involved in the war with Malefor."

General Icebreath smiled at that. "So you alright?" he asked. "Feeling better?"

"A little. I think these remaining eight months will still be hell for me, but with the reassurance and encouragement I got from my dream, and from you as well, I think I'll make it."

* * *

 **How was that? Good to see Sparx again? Another serious scene, but I tried to fit some humour in there with Sparx. Unfortunately, that's the last we're going to see of Sparx for _Broken Perceptions_ ; there's three chapters left including the Epilogue. But Sparx _will_ return in _Purple Legacy_ , so you can look out for a little more of him in the future.**

 **Anyway, that's enough from me, now. Hopefully I get some reviews lol. See you in the next chapter!**


	54. Chapter 53: Free

**This chapter's one of my worse chapters… next chapter's alright, too, but not that great; and I'm going to have to rewrite most of the Epilogue – it's that bad. Anyway, this story's so close to being done, so I'm so happy for that. I'm going to try and put a bit more work into the _FNAF_ series I've been working on and get at least three chapters up before I start posting _Purple Legacy_ Part 1. The _FNAF_ fanfictions have tiny, short chapters, and there's not much to write off, even as I'm rewriting Part 2 of the _FNAF_ series, so _FNAF_ will have slightly quicker updates than the _Spyro_ fanfics, especially _Purple Legacy_ with how long each chapter is (4000-5000 words on average).**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', I'm actually kind of glad I portrayed the emotion to the reader. It's something that's hard to do, but if you pull it off, you know you've done well. I also never thought about the fact that in the fanfics where Spyro's in a dark place, it's always Cynder who helps cheer him up rather than Sparx. And now that you mention it, not many other characters do so, not even the guardians. It's _always_ Cynder. I get that people are trying to sow the love between the two characters, but the concept of Cynder getting Spyro out of a dark place is slightly overused sometimes, so I'm glad that I (unintentionally) did something a little different.**

 **Well, Chapter 54 and the Epilogue to go, and then I'm done. Wow, this has been a big ride, but it's been really enjoyable. Also, tomorrow marks one year since the day I started working on _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, so that's slightly important, too. I might get a little sneak peek up for you all to celebrate that. I'm going to have to play around with some of the wording a bit so I don't give anything away, and I'll have to find a good scene to do as well. And I won't post the official name of Part 1, as to not give away too much prematurely (the name has a lot in it), so it'll literally just be ' _Purple Legacy_ , Part 1 – Sneak Peek' or something like that. Please let me know if you want to see the sneak peek, because I do want to get you all a little into _Purple Legacy_ before I start posting the full story. By review is fine, but I'm going to put a poll on my profile, so vote on whether you want me to do a sneak peek.**

 **Anyway, enough of my constant rambling. You can probably guess what happens due to the title of the chapter. So enjoy, I guess.**

* * *

"It's time, Spyro." a voice woke the purple dragon.

Spyro lifted his head, groaning sleepily. He hadn't had a good sleep last night. He had scraped his flank on the cobblestone wall quite painfully yesterday, and the pain kept him awake. The scrape had been bad enough to draw blood, and although it wasn't a lot of blood, the scrape still hurt a lot. Spyro blinked a few times, his eyes clearing, before he saw General Icebreath standing in front of him.

In front of him. Literally. He was in the cell. "Do you need help getting up?" the guard asked.

"What? Why?" Spyro asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.

"You're free to go." General Icebreath said. "Your time here's over."

Spyro's eyes widened and his heart rose in his chest. _I'm… I'm free to go? Has it really been a year?! I can go back to normal life! I… I can see Warfang again!_ Spyro thought, a wide smile creeping up onto his face.

Spyro scrambled to his feet and looked at General Icebreath in the eyes. The ice dragon smiled warmly, his bright blue eyes glistening with warmth. "You ready to go?" General Icebreath asked.

The purple dragon couldn't hold his excitement. Tears streamed down his cheeks. The feeling wasn't new to him, he had cried a lot over the past few months. But these tears were different. They were tears of joy. His breath went hard and his heart pounded against his chest, and Spyro couldn't stop the massive smile on his face. Spyro nodded quickly, and General Icebreath turned and beckoned him forward with a jerk of his head.

Spyro turned and followed General Icebreath eagerly, stepping out of the prison cell for the last time. He had left on the occasion for breakfast and dinner, where he ate in the dining room, where he met with some of the other dragons in the prison. Most of them were guards, and being a prisoner, he wasn't allowed to mingle with them. There were about three other dragons there with him, but all three of them were criminals. Two were on a three-year sentence, and the other on a five. It was their last year, and they had talked with Spyro quite a lot about their lives, and what they had done. Being in prison had taught them a lesson; they were changed dragons. They spoke wisely, and told Spyro several times to think carefully about his choices and not to act without thinking, especially when blinded by emotions. One of the dragons, a sixty-year-old fire dragon named Frendall on the three-year sentence, had killed four dragons and badly wounded an extra ten when he lost his temper after he was told not to let the, at the time, recent death of his mother and father get to him. All three of the dragons were shocked when they heard the news that both Spyro and General Icebreath was being put in prison. They were wary around General Icebreath when he ate with them; Spyro was either always asleep or an emotional wreck whenever they were allowed to eat in the dining room with other dragons. But before General Icebreath returned to his normal job, Spyro had made it out to eat with the other dragons only twice, and the criminal dragons were babbling messes, unsure what to say to the purple dragon, saviour of the world and victor over Malefor. But his depressed state had changed that, and the criminal dragons obviously felt bad for him. Spyro had made become acquainted later on after General Icebreath was freed from prison with the twenty-nine-year-old earth dragon with the five-year sentence, whose name was Greeneye, named for his vibrant green eyes. They had had a similar childhood. They grew up as orphans, not knowing who their parents were, and were raised by another family. A non-dragon family. No dragon wanted Greeneye, and so Greeneye was raised by moles. Spyro had complained to Greeneye saying that the earth dragon had at least gotten to be around dragons during his childhood, and Greeneye had felt bad knowing that Spyro was thirteen when he met his first dragon, and had ended up giving Spyro some very helpful life tips. All in all, during Spyro's time in the prison, Greeneye had offered great support for Spyro, and Spyro had asked how Greeneye was so wise. His reply was always: "Five years in prison, young dragon. You have plenty of time to ponder on your past actions and what you've done."

As they walked towards the drawbridge, Spyro stopped. General Icebreath turned back. "Are you alright?" he asked, unsure why the purple dragon had stopped.

"Can I quickly visit the other dragons here? I want to say goodbye to them, and good luck when they return to the outside world." Spyro said. "I understand if that's not allowed, but…"

"I'm sure it'll be alright." General Icebreath interrupted with a smile. "Follow me."

General Icebreath led Spyro down a grim, badly kept hall. Spyro screwed up his face at the conditions of the place, but he reminded himself that this was a prison, and that it was meant to be dark and dingy and grim. He was just thankful that the space around his cell was slightly more well-kept. They turned a corner, and Spyro saw the cell containing the slumbering body of the ice dragon with the three-year sentence, Kriém. "Kriém, are you awake?" General Icebreath asked.

There was a low groan as the ice dragon stirred. "I am now. What do you want?" Kriém grumbled, turning his head and flinching slightly as he saw Spyro standing outside his cell. "Spyro? What are you doing here?"

"I'm free now. I wanted to say goodbye, and good luck for when you're freed." Spyro said.

Kriém smiled, and let out a low chuckle. "You're a good kid, you know that, Spyro? It's sad knowing that you had to spend a whole year here, being… you know, you." Kriém said, smiling warmly at Spyro. "See you, kid. And remember, be smart with your decisions. You don't want to end up back here again. Or worse."

"I know." Spyro said, smiling back at the criminal who had assaulted several dragons and stolen many blue spirit gems from a storage centre. "Thank you for your advice."

"You're welcome. I take it you're going to see Greeneye and Frendall now?"

"Yes, he is." General Icebreath answered for Spyro, before turning and jerking his head forward. "Come along, now, Spyro."

"Alright. Bye, Kriém." Spyro said, dipping his head respectfully.

Kriém chuckled to himself at the respectful nod, knowing that he didn't deserve it. "See you around, kid." the ice dragon said.

They walked for a little longer before coming around towards Frendall's cell. The sixty-year-old fire dragon was awake, scrawling messy notes in a large book with a quill pen. Frendall looked up from his work and blinked. "What are you doing here, Spyro? Are you getting freed?" Frendall asked with a smile.

Spyro nodded. "I wanted to say goodbye, and good luck for when you return to the outside world." he repeated.

Frendall stifled a laugh. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, then. And good luck to you, too. You coped well for someone of your age." Frendall said.

"I guess I had something to look forward to. I've got outside friends waiting for me." Spyro said.

"If only this other kid I knew, about your age during my first year, had your optimism. He never made it past his second week."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"I didn't know him that well. But don't let that knowledge put you down. You did well."

"Thank you."

"Alright, Spyro. One more to go." General Icebreath said, turning to walk away.

"Yes, General. Bye, Frendall." Spyro said, and he followed the guard.

When they got to Greeneye's cell, Spyro was heartbroken at the state of the surroundings. Everything was surrounded in black shadows, and dust floated around in the air. There was almost no light; they seemed to be in the middle of the prison, were there were no windows or light source, and there were no candles or torches to provide light. Greeneye lived in almost constant darkness, and Spyro wished he could take Greeneye with him. "Hey, kid. I guess you're going, huh?" Greeneye's voice came from the cell, and Spyro walked forward and looked in, reeling back with shock. "It's quite a sight, isn't it? Been my home for five years almost."

Claw marks covered the cobblestone walls to act as tallies for each day Greeneye had been in the cell. A few things had been thrown in the corner of the cell, and small pieces of fabric, a blanket perhaps, and a half-empty plate was in the middle of the room beside Greeneye. Greeneye was wrapped in another, slightly larger blanket, that had lots of holes in it, showing the dark green scales. Spyro felt bad for the earth dragon. "I, uh… I'm sorry." Spyro muttered.

"Don't be. What I didn't isn't your fault. I'm here upon my own accord."

Spyro didn't reply. He stared down at his paws, feeling bad for the twenty-nine-year-old earth dragon. "The world's going to change, you know? One year is a long time." Greeneye continued. "Not as long as my five years; plenty's going to have changed, but I'll get used to it, and so will you. I wish you good luck."

"I was going to say that, too." Spyro replied, clearing his throat. "I wanted to say goodbye, and good luck upon you leaving here."

"I'll make sure I see you when I leave. I've probably got about a week or two left before I'm out of here."

"Four." General Icebreath snarled. "Don't push it."

"Hey, hey!" Greeneye replied innocently. "Five years does things to you! I can't tell time that well, despite all the lines I've drawn; I'm pretty sure I've missed a few."

General Icebreath rolled his eyes, scoffing. _Well_ there's _the prison guard that I had expected during my time here._ Spyro thought, but he wouldn't say it out loud for fear of what General Icebreath would say. Spyro _knew_ he had been taking it easier on him, and while the other prisoners were jealous at first, after hearing Spyro's story from the purple dragon himself, they respected General Icebreath's decision, knowing that what Dark Spyro did was not entirely Spyro's fault, although he was partially to blame for it.

"Anyway, I guess I'll see you later, kid." Greeneye said, cutting through Spyro's thoughts. "Look alive, kid. You're returning to the outside world. You're going to see your friends again."

Spyro smiled at Greeneye. "Thank you." Spyro said, before General Icebreath turned and left without a word, and Spyro followed the guard.

They returned to the drawbridge, and as it opened, Spyro had to blink several times to adjust his eyes to the brightness of the world outside the prison. His eyes began to fill up with tears as he saw Warfang for the first time in twelve months. It was so peaceful. Dragons living normal lives. Spyro didn't have the words to explain it. The tears streaming down his face was more than enough to explain how he was feeling.

"Goodbye, Spyro." General Icebreath said, smiling.

Spyro turned to General Icebreath with shock, watching as the guard stepped back into the dark of the prison. General Icebreath nodded towards Warfang, and Spyro looked back at the bright, happy city in front of him, and let out a joyful wail, tears streaming down his face, as he ran across the drawbridge and into the city around him.

He didn't know how long he was running and shouting for. He didn't know how many awkward looks he was getting from the dragons around him. But he didn't care. He was free. He was able to return to a normal life. He was able to go home.

Home.

He would be able to see Cynder again.

He was faced with conflicting thoughts as he thought of Cynder. Would she still love him? He had broken her heart with what he had done. He had hit her, yelled at her, and broken her emotionally. How could she still love him?

But then he remembered. The kiss. Not the first, meaningless one before he had turned into Dark Spyro, but the second one. The kiss that meant everything to him. Tears pricked his eyes again at the thought of that beautiful moment.

 _She might still love me._

Spyro hung onto that thought as he walked back home in the sunset. He had been rejoicing in his freedom all day, and now he was feeling the strain it had put on him. His muscles ached, and his throat stung. His eyes were hot and painful from the tears, but he shut the pain out as he walked back home, a smile on his face as he saw the place that was once so familiar to him.

He walked forward, ready to open the door. When he opened it, he was met by many smiling faces as many voices roared out at him. "Happy hatch-day!"

Spyro was taken aback. "What? I… I'm not… My…" he stammered. When was his hatch-day again? He had lost all sense of time. What Greeneye had said earlier made sense to him.

Cynder walked up to him, and Spyro was brought to tears at the sight of the dragoness. Dark scaled, vibrant emerald eyes, and a beautiful build. "Your hatch-day was three months ago. You're nineteen, Spyro." she said, an uncertain look in her eyes.

"I… I missed my own hatch-day?" Spyro asked, his voice cracking.

"No, you haven't. Because we're here to celebrate it with you." Cynder said, smiling.

Spyro looked inside his house to see who was there. Cynder, Terrador, Volteer, and Cyril, the first dragons he had ever known. Even General Icebreath, Frost, and Soilrouser had managed to come along (Spyro was _really_ not expecting General Icebreath to be there). Sparx had made it as well, and two glowing dragonflies were hovering next to the little golden dragonfly. Spyro burst into tears when he saw his foster parents; it had been five years since he had last seen them. Or six. Spyro had to remind himself that he was now nineteen. He looked over to the corner of the room, to reel back with surprise as he saw who was there. Hunter, Chief Prowlus, a young, bright yellow cheetah, one of the foxes that had fought him while he was Dark Spyro, and the ape as well. _Human_ , Spyro corrected, remembering the times that Cynder had protested about the human's species type. Spyro suddenly noticed that the human, as well as the fox and the cheetahs, were unarmed, their bows, quivers and swords out of sight.

The human caught sight of Spyro, and with a smile, walked over to him. Spyro's breath went hard, unsure what to do. "It's alright, Spyro." Cynder whispered to him, and Spyro turned to look at Cynder, who was smiling warmly at him, and then back to the human.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I hope we can put that behind us. So… Happy hatch-day, Spyro." the human said.

Spyro swallowed, tears brimming in his eyes. "How can you say that to me, given all the torment I gave you? How can you forgive me after all that I've done?" Spyro asked.

"Because I know that's what _you_ would do. That was how you welcomed Cynder, remember?" the human said, and Spyro bowed down and broke down into an emotional mess, slowly lowering himself to his stomach as he sobbed. The human continued, and Spyro felt a furless paw… hand… touch his scaly shoulder. He flinched slightly, but listened as the human spoke calmly to him. "It wasn't an easy decision, but I know that you need a bit of happiness and kindness in your life given what happened. I know how you struggled in prison; General Icebreath told me. You're strong, you know that?"

"Yeah." Spyro muttered, his voice croaky.

The human chuckled. "So, how about you accept my happy hatch-day?" he asked.

Spyro lifted his head and looked at him, before smiling. "Happy hatch-day accepted." Spyro said, smiling. He suddenly felt the need to introduce himself. He didn't know why he had the sudden urge to do so, but he suddenly felt as if he was meeting a new person. "I'm Spyro."

The human played along with it. "Well, happy hatch-day, Spyro. I'm Aaron." the human… Aaron… said, and Spyro stood up, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

They celebrated long into the night, and Spyro had the time of his life.


	55. Chapter 54: Goodbye

**Well, I only have the Epilogue left to post after this, and then _Broken Perceptions_ is 100% done. Also, for those who don't know, for whatever reason, I have posted the sneak peek for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, which you can find on my profile. I will be deleting the sneak peek once I upload the Prologue of _Purple Legacy_ , and I will not be adding any more to it, so there's really no point following it; you can favourite it if you want, but I will be deleting it so it'll disappear from your favourites list.**

 **To 'Fellow Fan', I want to ask if you've been reading the previous A/Ns. I will not be writing any sequels or one-shots based off _Broken Perceptions_ in the near future, if not ever. It's not necessary, and I feel it'll be quite bad and feel forced if I try to do any more of _Broken Perceptions_. So I suggest not only to you, but to everyone else, read my A/Ns, because your questions may be answered, and it'll save me having to explain something multiple times (I've said this three times I believe).**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', the Epilogue just seemed really weak in parts and it seemed slightly unnatural at some bits of it, so I'm going to be re-writing it to strengthen some bits up. And as I said before, the sneak peek to _Purple Legacy_ Part 1 is up on my profile, if you haven't already noticed, so check it out if you have the time.**

 **To 'Endless Bladez', it may or may not have been intentional to make you cry lol, but it was intentional to make emotional scenes. I like them, and it makes the characters and the world they're in seem much more realistic, and it's good for character development. As for Spyro breaking out of character, that was the whole point with Dark Spyro twisting his every single move since Aaron made his way into the Dragon Realms. As for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1 and wondering if you can take it, given how intense it gets and the fact that you said you got emotional from _Broken Perceptions_ , you may struggle to keep yourself together. If it gets too intense, you don't have to read it; it's M for a reason. Violence, blood and gore will be very big in the story, as will character death. But thanks for favouriting _Broken Perceptions_ anyway, and I hope you do enjoy _Purple Legacy_.**

 **To 'LoNeWoLf', I agree with you in the fact that almost every _Spyro_ -related 'Human in TV Land' fanfic keeps the main human character in the Dragon Realms for bias purposes towards the dragons, and it gets really old, so as you may be able to tell by the name of the chapter, that's not going to happen. Aaron's journey was always going to be a two-way trip; going there and back again. But anyway, I'm glad you've been enjoying _Broken Perceptions_ (crazy that there's only the Epilogue left), and I hope you enjoy _Purple Legacy_ when it comes out.**

 **Also, I'm going to be taking a break from _Spyro_ fanfics for a small while, because I really want to get _Fazbear_ , my _FNAF_ fanfiction series up and running, too. They're small and kinda crappy, so I'm currently working on re-writing them, but _Purple Legacy_ will be my main focus once I get it started. I want to try and get at least three chapters of _Fazbear_ Part 1: _Bitten_ up before I begin _Purple Legacy_ (and those who know the _FNAF_ lore, you'll probably guess what _Bitten_ 's going to be focused on).**

 **Well, let's get on with the chapter, I guess.**

* * *

Another two months passed. Spyro and Aaron had been making it up to each other after the first few days of conflict they had experienced, and they were doing really well. Spyro had struggled to get used to normal life again. He was shy and very introverted, and quite often isolated himself from others. Greeneye had just been released from prison a month ago, and Spyro had spent a lot of time with the twenty-nine-year-old earth dragon, telling him about what had happened in the past month. But he had begun to adjust to normal life quite well, and Spyro was trying to make friends again, and was apologising almost all the time, especially to the guardians and elders, and those who he had caused harm to fourteen months prior.

Spyro had even tried to apologise to Stonebrawler, Shocker's friend, after he was released from prison, trying to explain that he, too, was grieving for his fallen friend. The friend that he had murdered. But Stonebrawler had become a furious, emotional wreck, blaming Spyro and attacking him, before he was found dead the next day, his own blood on his claws and tailblade. Spyro had grieved for Stonebrawler, distancing himself from everyone for two whole days. He had listened to Stonebrawler, and blamed himself. Not even Cynder could bring him from his grief. Surprisingly, it was Aaron who made Spyro smile again. He had comforted the purple dragon, and Spyro seemed to have been touched by the loving kindness from the one he had strived so hard to have his head on his tailblade fourteen months ago. For an extra three days, Spyro had shrunk away from most people, apart from Cynder and Cyril, who had been with him and Aaron when Aaron made Spyro happy once more. Greeneye had spent one of those days with Spyro, and Spyro had returned much happier, still shy, but wanting to get back into social life.

Spyro had fallen into grief again, although not as much grief as when Stonebrawler had died, when Aaron announced that he was going to become more focused on finding a way back home for the next few days. Spyro still wanted to repair his relationship with Aaron, and now the human was going to be leaving. The day after Aaron's announcement, he decided he would try the well he had arrived the Dragon Realms from. He had asked the guardians, Spyro and Cynder, Hunter and some of the cheetahs, as well as Lohfur, to come and see him off if the well worked. Greeneye had come as well, in case Spyro needed his company. So here they stood deep in the forest, around the 'Magic Well of the Ancestors', as Volteer called it. Apparently, the well was a place where the guardians of ancient times would talk to the ancestors, and it had lots of magical capabilities. Teleportation had only happened once before Aaron's teleportation to the Dragon Realms, and it had happened when the ancestors had sent a dragon to another world, not Aaron's world apparently, as a punishment for beginning a genocidal revolution that had split the different races of dragons amongst each other. The dragon had never come back. The dragon's name had been lost in history, but legend said that he was a rare hybrid dragon that also came from the now extinct phoenix race.

Volteer had also warned Aaron that the magic of the ancestors would potentially undo itself upon entering his world, where the ancestors had no control over. The healing jobs Lohfur had worked on with the red gems would possibly undo, and Aaron would probably awake in his world, a bloody wreck and in a world of pain. Spyro had been brought to tears over this.

After prolonged goodbyes and conversations, Aaron decided it was time to go. "Thank you for the experience." Aaron said to everyone, not mentioning the hell he had woken up in amongst his first few days here. Spyro didn't object, and Aaron didn't notice. "I don't want to leave here; I'm loving life here a lot, but Earth is my home; it's where I belong. I should probably return. If I find a way to get back to the Dragon Realms, I'll try my best to. But until then, goodbye, and thank you."

Aaron took everything off his back; the backpack that had come with him (it had lived in his and Hunter's hut in the Cheetah Village for the past fourteen months), the empty quiver that still sat on his back, and the bow, hung around his shoulders. He picked up the bow and quiver separately, and held them out to Hunter. Hunter refused, pushing them back with a paw. "Take the bow with you, at least. My gift to you. Something to remember this world by." Hunter said.

Aaron nodded his head respectfully, before he dropped the empty quiver onto the ground, putting his bag on his back again, and putting the bow around his shoulder. He turned to all the dragons. "Thank you, all of you. Cynder, for accepting me as quick as you did. Volteer, for attempting to see the truth, upon much pressure, I must say." Aaron said, pausing to laugh, as Volteer chuckled quietly with him. "Terrador and Cyril, for believing in me when the time called for it; although it was late, but as the saying goes, 'better late than never'. Greeneye, for looking after Spyro during his time alone in prison."

Aaron turned to Spyro, who was struggling to keep his tears back. "And Spyro. I know these past fourteen months have been hard for you, and you will be forever changed, forever different, from this experience you've had. But thank you for seeing what you did wrong, and for allowing me to forgive you and to be your friend. You did good, Spyro, and I know that was all you ever tried to do, even if your mind was being manipulated in the first ten days I was here. I believe in you. I think everyone here does."

"If anything, I should be thanking _you_." Spyro replied, wiping his eyes with a claw.

Aaron dipped his head, smiling, his eyes gleaming with humour, before turning to Hunter, Archer, Lohfur, and surprisingly, Rordrow, who had forced Hunter to let him come. "Thank you, Hunter, for an amazing new experience, and for accepting me. Archer, for being a good friend. Lohfur, for looking after me when I was badly wounded." Aaron was interrupted by a whimper from Spyro. "And Rordrow… I'm not exactly sure why you came."

"To apologise." the rough voice of the cheetah murmured. "I should have done ages ago, when you returned from Warfang, but I never had the courage to. I was wrong about you, back in the competition. I was too blind to see how good you were, and what danger you were in when you were here. I made life so much harder for you. When I heard what you had been through… I… I don't know, I just felt bad. For everything I'd said to you."

"Then I thank you for your apology." Aaron said with a chuckle. "Apology accepted."

Aaron held out his hand, and Rordrow paused, before taking Aaron's hand in his paw and shaking it. "My father perished in war. When I heard about what you went through… the extent of your wounds… I couldn't help but think of him. I was selfish and unkind to him, and I was selfish and unkind to you. I'm so sorry." Rordrow continued.

"It's alright, Rordrow. Really. It's not so hard to forgive you after forgiving Spyro." Aaron said quietly, as to not offend the purple dragon. But Spyro heard, and luckily for Aaron, Spyro let out a small chuckle.

Aaron turned around, staring at the well, before walking towards it. "Well, let's see if this works. If it doesn't, then I'm stuck here, or I have to find another way. If it works, I guess that's goodbye." Aaron said.

"Goodbye, Aaron." Spyro replied.

Aaron leapt into the air, climbing into the well and disappearing into the water with a splash. Spyro ran forward, looking down into the water, to see nothing but floating red particles. Aaron was gone, and small amounts of his blood was all that remained in this world.

Blood.

That was quick. The wounds were returning already. The wounds that _he_ had dealt.

Spyro fell to the ground, in tears, as it dawned on him that Aaron was really gone, and that his wounds were returning. Spyro flinched as he felt a paw touch his shoulders. "It's alright, Spyro." Greeneye said. "He'll be safe in the hands of human healers."

"I sure hope so." Spyro said, swallowing.

"He'll be fine." Hunter reassured the purple dragon.

"He's out of our scales, now." Cyril said. "Let's go home."

And with that, everyone turned and went their own separate ways. Cynder was the one to hesitate, looking back at the well one final time, before murmuring, "Goodbye, Aaron."

Cynder turned and ran off after the dragons that were returning to Warfang. It dawned on her. It was over. Things would return to normal. Things would finally return the way they used to be.

It was time for them to finally live a normal life.


	56. Epilogue

**Well, _Purple Legacy_ Part 1 is actually about 6000+ words more than _Broken Perceptions_ (without the A/Ns), so yay for longer stories! And shocker, _Broken Perceptions_ is finally done! I will just quickly answer some reviews, and then on with the Epilogue.**

 **To 'Derick Lindsey', this is the first story I've released to the public, but I've been writing since I was 11. I had a _Skylanders_ fanfiction series that I was working on (they were crappy and I've completely lost them so they're gone in the ashes of forgotten fanfictions), but even before that, I used to draw _Sonic the Hedgehog_ fan-comics back when I was 8, when I was learning to draw Sonic and co., and saying that I should really do some more _Sonic_ fanart on my DeviantArt page. But _Fazbear_ , the _FNAF_ fanfiction series that I started writing when I was 14, was something that I was really happy with and I still am (sort of) to this day, which is why I want to start getting work done on it. I started _Broken Perceptions_ last year (just before I turned 15), and it was the best piece of work I had ever done. Then I started writing _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, and it far surpassed anything I've ever written, and I'm really looking forward to posting it. As for your inquiry about Ignitus, as I have stated before, he _will_ make an appearance in _Purple Legacy_. His debut in the five-part series may happen in Part 1, or it may happen in Part 5, or somewhere in between. Not going to say any more than that.**

 **To 'Endless Bladez', I actually thought you were serious, because there are actually some people who are unable to take scenes like this. If you're joking, sometimes you need to make it a little clear, because there's no obvious tone of voice in a string of text that shows if you're joking or not. But thanks for the review and the favourite anyway. The warning still stands, though, to you and everyone else, if it _does_ get too intense, you can stop reading. I think it's probably one of the darkest, if not, _the_ darkest _Spyro_ fanfic on this site. Although, I'm sure there are darker fanfics of other games/movies/books/whatever else on FFnet, so I don't think I can claim the title of darkest fanfic.**

 **To 'UNNES1000', for Aaron returning to this world, you'll find out what happens in this Epilogue (although I've written it very poorly even in the rewrite, gah) when you read it. I hope it satisfies you, but I don't think it will. Even after the rewrite the last half of the Epilogue so desperately needed, it's still crap, so if it doesn't sit well with you, I'm sorry. As for Aaron not telling the dragons/cheetahs more about himself, it was something that was kind of skimmed over. I didn't want to drag the fourteen months of that section on for too long, although I probably should have had that in there. Too late now, though. Also, it wasn't a rush to get _Purple Legacy_ or _Fazbear_ out that made me forget about it, it was my own ignorance and I just hadn't thought everything through properly. But I think it's still good without, so eh. Secondly, I removed your other two reviews because I don't really like self-promotion on my pages; it's just awkward and comes across as someone just posting their stuff on the comments page of someone else's work to get attention (although I know you weren't trying to do that). If you want to show me some of your work, you may want to get an account on FFnet and PM me so that it doesn't clutter up the reviews section, and I'll try to give it a go. You could even post your stuff on FFnet if possible because it is a pretty good way to get people to read your work. As for _MLP_ , I'm definitely not into it; it's just not my thing. But it's good to see you're trying writing something, so keep up the work in it.**

 **Well anyway, long junky stuff over, let's finish this off, shall we?**

* * *

Pain. It filled his body quickly, and he couldn't understand why he was feeling it. He had been underwater for less than five seconds, and his lungs felt fine. That was when red particles floated across his vision, floating up towards the surface of the water. He looked down and saw his arm was opening up to reveal flesh and bone, huge amounts of blood being jettisoned from the wound. He felt the robes around his chest swell up, before blood burst from the neck hole, and his vision went red. Unable to take the pain any longer, the water stinging the wounds, he swam to the surface, taking in a large intake of air before letting out a scream, blood streaming down his body from old wounds.

Aaron opened his eyes slightly to see that he was in a park. Eyes had been turned towards him, and people shouted and cried out with terror at the sight that he was in. Dragons had done this to him, he remembered. Spyro had done this to him. Every wound he bore was given to him by Spyro's teeth and claws. Aaron let out another cry of pain as tears began to stream down his eyes. Aaron looked around to see countless people were on their phones, shouting frantically to the other end. The words 'ambulance' and 'come quickly' were heard, and Aaron knew that they were all calling the ambulance to come to his aid.

Frantic footsteps and shocked gasps came from his left. He turned his head and saw four faces he hadn't seen in fourteen months. The bullies. Not a day had passed on Earth since the fourteen months he had been in the Dragon Realms. They all screeched to a halt, terrified expressions on their faces.

"What the hell?!" the leader cried out, looking around at everyone on their phones.

Not even bothering to grab his phone to call the ambulance too, or to try and help Aaron, the bullies just turned and fled with fear and disgust, before they were gone from Aaron's sight.

Aaron only just heard the sound of wailing sirens as he fell unconscious, and he knew he'd be in good hands.

* * *

"Hey, welcome to the waking world."

Aaron opened his eyes. He was in a bright white room, in a bed. Rick, his only friend, sat in a chair next to his bed. "Rick? What are you doing here?" Aaron asked.

"I've been with you for a while. You've been out for three days." Rick said, sighing. "You've been in a very bad way. Bleeding and groaning, calling out random names."

Aaron groaned in acknowledgement. But something was wrong. He felt… odd in is left side. So, he turned around, only to gasp with shock. His left arm, the one Spyro had bitten, was… gone. "What happened?"

"They said that the wounds on your chest and back would heal, but the arm was so bad, it had to be amputated. There was no way it would survive. The other wounds would leave quite bad scars, however, but they'll close up eventually." Rick said, before adding, "I've been wondering, what the hell did this to you? Those wounds were unlike anything I've ever seen."

"You won't believe me if I told you." Aaron said.

"No matter what you say, your wounds are all proof. I don't care how farfetched it sounds." Rick insisted.

"Alright." Aaron said, taking a deep breath before saying, "A dragon did this to me."

"A dragon? Where in the actual _hell_ …?"

"I was somehow transported to another world. I was there for fourteen months, surprisingly; time there seems to have no correlation to time here. But in the first few days, the dragons that lived in that world were very against me. I almost died several times."

"So… you… it…" Rick stammered before sinking back into his chair with a deep exhale. "Jeez, how the hell did this happen?!"

"I don't know. I have no explanation at all."

They were silent for a little longer. Rick broke the silence. "They're ordering a prosthetic for your arm. It looks pretty cool. Very advanced technology, as a matter of fact. I think you'd like it."

Aaron stifled a laugh. He merely smiled. "I like the sound of that."

"Also, the bullies? They turned and dispersed. Everybody thinks they had something to do with it, despite you being on the news with several witnesses saying you went into the lake perfectly intact, and when you came out, you were bleeding quite badly."

"So, the bullying's over?"

"From those guys, at least. But hey, they were the only real problem. Everyone else was kind of minor, and after what happened to those other guys, I think they're all a bit shocked and wary."

"Good."

"So, the dragons. What were they like?"

"It's a long story." Aaron said, before pausing and sighing.

Life was finally taking an upward curve for him. First, he had met his childhood heroes, despite the trials he had faced. Now, he was home again, and the bullying problem was finally at an end.

He was looking forward to what his life held for him now. Life in the Dragon Realms had made him stronger as a person, and he was optimistic to what his future was. He turned to his right and saw beside him on a table, was his bag, as well as his bow. The bow that Hunter had made for him. Aaron would treasure the bow forever.

 _Thank you everyone._ Aaron silently prayed.

* * *

 **That was short and crappy, but with the Epilogue done, _Broken Perceptions_ is now 100% complete! I want to thank every single one of you for your support and enthusiasm into my work, so thank you all so much.**

 **Over the rest of the month, I will be working on getting the first few chapters of _Fazbear_ Part 1: _Bitten_ up and running. For those who want an early summary, _Bitten_ takes place during 1983 and 1987, which are two massive dates in the _Five Nights at Freddy's_ timeline, which involve animatronics biting people (a child in 1983, and the day guard in 1987), and I've taken my own little spin on both events, although the Bite of '83 carries closely to the official event in _FNAF 4_. It also goes through the events of _Sister Location_ , going from Circus Baby 'scooping' Miss Afton, to the creation of Purple Guy through Ennard. For those who don't know your _FNAF_ lore, none of this will probably make any sense to you, so read up if you're interested, so you can get hurtled into this new series.**

 **If you're not interested in that, stick around for _Purple Legacy_ Part 1. A more detailed sneak peek is up on my profile, so go read that if you're interested. The sneak peek will be removed when I start posting the full version of _Purple Legacy_ Part 1, so any reviews you've left will be lost, and you will lose a favourited story, so make sure if you're interested that you follow/favourite _Purple Legacy_ Part 1 when it comes out, and review as much as you can. It will be rated M for intense violence, blood and gore, as well as frequent character death. I've just finished writing a torture scene (literally separated by one chapter from another one so that was unintentional lol), which gets pretty intense. So, if you're not into violence, gore, or death, I probably wouldn't recommend _Purple Legacy_ to you. Also, depending on how extreme I need to go to get some emotions out of some characters or to get some events rolling, I will also include a few minor suggestive themes (although, like it says, it's only _suggestive_ , so all the content will be vague and implicit, so there's no mature romance from me sorry all you peeps who like that weird icky stuff). I will only use suggestive themes if there's no other way to release a certain emotion out of a character, or to get a certain event underway; I don't want to have to use suggestive themes if I don't need to. Most of them will be in later parts of _Purple Legacy_ as well, mainly Parts 3 and 5, but there will still be some in Part 1 and 4. I have none planned for Part 2 yet, and there probably won't be any, unless I'm referring back to Part 1 (just felt I should get that out there just so you all know).**

 **Anyway, another massive rant done (this Epilogue is mostly A/N so sorry lol), and my first fanfiction done! I will see you all when the Prologue of _Bitten_ comes out. If not then, it'll be when the Prologue of _Purple Legacy_ Part 1 comes out. If you want to talk to me before then, you can leave a review if you want, but if you want a response, you'll have to have an account so I can reply to you in a PM, so all you guests, better get an FFnet account (lol jk you don't have to).**

 **See you later! :D**


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